African firms turn to in-house technology teams as AI investment grows

African organisations are increasingly developing their own technology solutions, with nearly four in 10 projects submitted for the 2026 CIO100 Awards completed without the involvement of external vendors.

The findings point to a growing reliance on internal technology teams to address business challenges, as organisations across the continent seek to improve efficiency, enhance customer experience and create new growth opportunities.

Data from nearly 1,300 submissions across 10 countries, including Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Tanzania, shows that 38.2 per cent of projects were developed in-house.

Artificial intelligence (AI) also emerged as a major investment priority, although its planned uptake appears to be running ahead of its current application.

According to the findings, 84.8 per cent of organisations intend to prioritise AI investment over the next 12 to 24 months, while 61.8 per cent of submitted projects had already incorporated the technology.

Generative AI, which can produce content such as text and images, featured in 25.7 per cent of the projects.

AI adoption has risen from 54.8 per cent in the previous year's submissions, signalling increased use of the technology even as organisations continue to work through implementation, skills, data and governance challenges.

“AI is moving rapidly up the agenda for African business and technology leaders, but the real test is how effectively organisations translate that interest into results. The gap between planned investment and current adoption shows that many businesses are still working through the practical questions of implementation, skills, data and governance. We need to focus on how technology can solve real problems, improve productivity and open new opportunities for growth,” said Harry Hare, Chairman of CIO Africa by dx5.

The report also challenges the assumption that technology-driven business improvements require substantial financial commitments, with smaller projects reporting stronger returns relative to their cost.

Projects costing less than USD 10,000 (approximately Ksh.1.3 million) accounted for 27.2 per cent of submissions, up from 12.7 per cent in 2023.

These projects recorded a median return of 3.6 times the initial investment, compared with approximately twice the investment for projects in the largest budget category.

“The figures suggest that organisations can achieve meaningful results by investing in smaller projects that solve specific problems, rather than relying only on expensive, large-scale technology programmes,” said Arnold Ng’ang’a, Senior Manager Consulting Services (Enterprise Technology & Platforms) at Deloitte.

The findings, however, do not indicate the average amount organisations spend on technology, but instead show the growing share of submissions involving lower-cost projects.

Despite the reported progress in technology adoption, cybersecurity preparedness remains a concern, with the findings revealing a disparity between organisations' confidence in their security capabilities and their testing of response plans.

Some 82.5 per cent of organisations rated their security maturity in the highest category, yet only 38.6 per cent reported having tested an incident-response plan.

The gap raises questions about how well organisations are prepared to respond to cyberattacks as they expand their use of AI, cloud services and interconnected digital systems.

Incident-response plans outline how organisations should handle security breaches, including responsibilities for containing attacks, protecting systems and restoring services.

The findings form part of submissions for the 2026 CIO100 Awards, which recognise organisations using technology to address business challenges and improve performance.

The awards and symposium will take place from November 25 to 27 at Diamonds Leisure Beach & Golf Resort in Diani, Kenya, bringing together technology leaders and business executives to discuss technology adoption, cybersecurity and business performance.