DeepSeek and AfDB’s Mission 300
Powering Africa has taken a crucial turn…
Donald Trump wants to expand America’s territory. The conversation on Canada being the 51st state, the desire to take Greenland off Denmark and other such rhetoric may appear like a prank taken too far, but there is a lot in there to show that Mr. Trump may be mirroring President William McKinley, the American president who expanded America’s territory by adding the likes of Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Hawaii. These have gone on alongside daily deportations, an initial pause to the activities of USAID and the State Department’s foreign aid interventions abroad, an end to DEI — Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — hires that many did not seem to realise also included the hiring of veterans. If anything, the Trump administration has hit the ground running, making good on some of its promises.
As the world watched the implications of the new American administration unfold, China switched up the news cycle. This was not just another news item to distract, it was with an impact costing as much as the GDP of Spain — and counting — in market losses. Fickle as ever, the markets responded to DeepSeek in a way that suggested anxiety and the fear of China comes with real costs. America’s AI dominance was questioned, and that tough ask immediately cost Nvidia about $600b in market value, reportedly the biggest drop in value by an American company in a day. The impact was also reflected in quick movements on the Forbes billionaires ranking.
China, speaking via DeepSeek, just showed that they are ready to go bar for bar and code for code with anyone. Its impact on the global market was not only unprecedented, but it will also mark a shift in the race for Artificial Intelligence. For many who were not paying attention to China, this was mostly a race amongst American companies. However, DeepSeek has signalled a telling shift in that race. The effects will reverberate for months, if not years, to come.
Any president, however powerful or dominant their country, who doesn’t understand that the world is no longer a place where one country can push and shove everyone in one direction will dance to the music of their own delusion. We need not love one another — better if we do — but our destinies are tied.
This is a lesson for Africa and its leaders. The most effective negotiating tool in this world is wealth and power. Anything less puts you in a disadvantaged position, irrespective of what they promise you. A rich person may tell a poor one, “this is a relationship of equals”, but the poor one must not be simple enough to believe it. If they are richer and more powerful than you, if you can’t feed your people and they can, if you can’t protect your people and they can, if you can’t educate your people and they can, please, don’t be deluded. That can never be a relationship of equals.
And it is not their work to do, it is yours — ours. In this world, power will answer to power, wealth to wealth. Short of either or both, you can only live at the mercy of the wealthy and powerful. You’d hope that they are kind to you, but why hope when you can simply just make your own advancements? Every country is looking out for itself. If they weren’t, there’s enough money to address global poverty. Instead, the rich countries prioritise Ocean and Space exploration for instance, seeking to dominate the future, in form of time and space, long before it comes.
No one will fix what is ours to fix as a country. Especially when our disadvantages are their profit. How else will they attract the best of ours if they aren’t offering visibly better opportunities? Countries will always be political entities but any country that does not identity itself first as an economic entity will play second fiddle to those who see everything for what it is; the quest for wealth and power. The obsessive advancement for dominance, subtle or overt.
This is why the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Powering Africa and Mission 300 are essential. Short of these practical objectives, Africa will continue to get left behind. We need our own answers to these global challenges. We can’t afford to always wait for others to answer the big questions before we know what to do. And powering the continent is a prerequisite for everything else we need to build.
At the just concluded Africa Energy Summit hosted by the Tanzanian government, African leaders, development organisations and partners of the African Development Bank made renewed commitment to the Mission 300, an initiative developed and led by the AfDB and the World Bank to connect 300 million people in Africa to clean, affordable and sustainable energy by the year 2030. The AfDB President, Nigeria’s Dr. Akin Adesina, will count this as one of his most telling legacies when he departs the bank later this year after completing his second term. This mission is essential for the development of the continent as access to energy remains a primary driver of commerce.
As the big players make advancement in their pursuit of what has been described as this century’s electricity, Africa cannot afford to get left behind. We cannot live in denial of the fact that our challenges are markedly different from what obtains elsewhere. That said, we must deploy our resources in the pursuit of our own AI solutions.
It has often been said that we should forget about AI, and instead connect our people to power first. Such statements pretend that we cannot do both. And indeed, we must look to do both. Else, we will be left playing catch up yet again.
If you have been following the conversation in the aftermath of DeepSeek, you’d find that whilst powerful countries appear committed to our objectives as a global community, the truth remains that each country and continent must fend for itself. It is what it is.
This piece appeared in the THISDAY newspaper on Friday 31 January 2025
