Microsoft Plans to Train 3 Million Africans in AI as It Takes on China’s DeepSeek

Microsoft said it will train three million people across Africa in artificial intelligence skills in 2026 through a programme called Microsoft Elevate, stepping up efforts to expand its AI footprint on the continent and respond to rising alternatives such as China’s DeepSeek. The initiative will run through partnerships with schools, universities and public institutions across South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Morocco, company executive Naim Yazbeck confirmed in a March 12 interview with Bloomberg.

"To make sure cost is not a barrier to building AI literacy at scale," Yazbeck said, describing the affordability focus of the campaign.

Program components and competitive context

Microsoft Elevate is being rolled out alongside commercial distribution partnerships and infrastructure investments designed to both broaden access to AI tools and lock in enterprise adoption. The company is expanding distribution through a partnership with MTN Group — first announced in November 2025 — that bundles Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Copilot into MTN’s consumer and enterprise offerings. MTN, which serves roughly 300 million subscribers across Africa, began rolling the bundle out in selected markets in early 2026.

Ralph Mupita, MTN CEO, framed the deal as a catalyst for digital projects across the continent: "This partnership opens new pathways for innovation and opportunity that will define the continent’s next phase of progress," he said in the company announcement.

Microsoft is also marketing tools and programmes aimed at developers and startups, including its Startup Founders Hub, which provides access to Microsoft Azure, GitHub and connections to venture capital investors. The company highlighted business use cases to illustrate impact: South African retailer SPAR Group has reportedly saved more than 700 employee hours per year using Copilot, while Nigeria’s Access Holdings has integrated the AI assistant into daily business workflows.

• Microsoft report (January 2026): DeepSeek accounts for 11–14% of chatbot usage in several African markets, including Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Niger; usage reaches about 20% in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.
• Infrastructure spend: 5.4 billion rand (about $330 million) to expand cloud and AI infrastructure in South Africa, expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
• Planned projects: Bloomberg reported Microsoft plans to build a geothermal-powered data centre in Kenya as part of regional cloud expansion.

Outlook

Microsoft’s Elevate push comes as Chinese AI platforms gain traction in multiple African markets. Yazbeck signalled the competitive landscape directly: "Chinese technology is active in Africa, and our job is to compete," he told Bloomberg.

Beyond private-sector competition, Microsoft says governments across Africa will need to prioritise AI policy and investment to capture the technology’s economic potential, citing the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Saudi Arabia as reference points. With the MTN distribution channel, the planned data-centre investments and a large-scale training target, Microsoft is positioning a multi-pronged effort to boost AI literacy and entrench its products across both consumer and enterprise segments in Africa during 2026.