The world is standing on the brink of a legal revolution, one where artificial intelligence (AI) is set to transform the way legal services are delivered, consumed, and understood. According to the 2024-2031 Global and Regional LegalTech Artificial Intelligence Industry Status and Prospects Professional Market Research Report, AI-led legal intelligence is expected to grow by over 30% in the next decade, augmenting everything from legal research to contract analysis, litigation prediction, and compliance monitoring.

Across the African continent, emerging AI innovations are expected to boost the continent's economic growth by an estimated US$2.9-trillion by 2030, as documented by The GSMA’s AI4D Africa report. The efficiencies made possible by AI are primed to address existing inequalities that exist across Africa by not only creating opportunities for skills development, Afro-entrepreneurialism, and economic growth, but also fuelling Africa’s legal ecosystem with representative, relevant, and culturally considerate information.

Gérald Croonenberghs, Managing Director of Silikin Village, elaborates that historical data biases must be remedied by Afrocentric AI. “Homegrown AI is very important for the continent as major biases exist from Western data and largely patriarchal perspectives. It is critical to create access to this localized data to create African AI solutions that are representative and contextually accurate.”

According to Steven De Backer, founder and CEO of legal intelligence firm Afriwise, one of the greatest challenges faced is the continent’s largely unstructured data ecosystem and lack of access to extensive and representative data. “Over 90% of global legal data is unstructured, buried in complex documents and regulatory texts. AI offers the only viable solution to making sense of this data in real-time, providing insights that would take human lawyers weeks, if not months, to generate. With Africa’s markets becoming increasingly sophisticated, the demand for quicker, more accurate legal solutions is growing. As data is the core of economic transformation, establishing secure, rich, and trusted African data sets is of utmost importance. Local developers and legal professionals need to be equipped with AI knowledge and tools to meet this demand head-on.”

Addressing limitations in access to local language data is a central part of this process. According to AI in Africa: The State and Needs of the Ecosystem, a 2024 report from The African Observatory on Responsible Artificial Intelligence, only 0.02% of online content is in African languages compared to 53% in English. This disparity hinders the ability to either develop new language models or refine existing ones to effectively harness the diverse range of accents, dialects, and ways of speaking across different African communities.

“This imbalance threatens to widen the digital divide and will continue to exclude Africa from the advantages of AI-driven legal technology. Datasets must reflect the intricacies of African markets rather than imitate intelligence from the Global North. A large focus must be placed on the creation of data center infrastructure across the continent to sustain these AI advancements,” says De Backer.

For Africa, pioneering the development of legal intelligence innovations, AI knowledge creation, and capacity building is not just an opportunity—it is an imperative. The continent’s legal systems are navigating complex and evolving regulatory landscapes, and AI offers a powerful solution to bridge the gap between legal information and actionable knowledge. Establishing tech and innovation hubs committed to developing regulatory AI ecosystems in Africa is no mean feat, and a multistakeholder approach through partnerships and funding is paramount for long-term impact.

“Legal and regulatory intelligence is the context in which Afriwise’s technology exists, but distributing this knowledge base using proprietary natural language processing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence is necessary to create an Afrocentric, future-ready tech ecosystem powered by AI and local talent. It is for this reason that we have partnered with TEXAF—the only company listed on the stock exchange that conducts all of its activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo—to build, adapt, and innovate legal tech solutions. The initiative will help cultivate a new generation of legal tech talent in the DRC, which could start a wave of local solutions that align with international standards. Through this partnership, Afriwise is determined to empower local developers and transfer not only its proprietary AI and legal expertise but also the skills needed to harness these technologies,” attests De Backer.

The heart of this initiative is Silikin Village, an entrepreneurial hub established by TEXAF in the DRC, which is dedicated to the promotion of technology-first innovation in startups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and large corporations. The DRC is burgeoning with potential as an emerging market. With a population of 90 million—60 percent of which is under 25 years old—the DRC stands to benefit hugely from grassroots-level technological interventions that foster skills among a young Congolese workforce. Silikin Village not only houses coworking spaces, training facilities, and data centers, but spearheads ongoing incubation and acceleration initiatives to foster diversity and growth within the DRC’s AI entrepreneurism.

Gérald Croonenberghs says this partnership is well-positioned to create a meaningful, long-lasting impact. “TEXAF is deeply committed to developing the digital economy of the DRC. Leveraging partnerships is critical to the success of this endeavour. Our partnership with Afriwise is meaningful as it presents the opportunity to cross-breed local talent with global experience, with the ultimate goal of cultivating a new generation of tech talent in Congo. We will continue to create opportunities for foreign projects and partnerships that aim to unlock the potential of Congo's vast human capital, making it a hub of tech innovation in Africa.”

Fostering the growth of grassroots startups by Africans and empowering local talent is at the core of this initiative. De Backer, who grew up in Kinshasa, affirms the story of AI in Africa will not just be about technology—it will be about empowerment. “As a legal intelligence company, the focus has always been to not only expand our footprint across Africa, but to actively invest in the future of local developers and the legal environment. It’s about ensuring that the next wave of African developers, lawyers, and entrepreneurs have the skills and tools to build a future where AI transforms legal systems for the better.”

AI is not just a tool; it is the future of legal services—and Africa must be a part of this story. The onus is on African AI innovators to create a foundation for AI development that not only solves African problems with African solutions, but meaningfully contributes to Africa’s socioeconomic prosperity as a whole.