Technology’s Role in Realising a Peaceful Continent

Technology’s Role in Realising a Peaceful Continent panel session with Tem Mbuh,Program Manager for Transformative Peace in Africa at Open Society Foundations, Fiona Asuke, Program Manager for Transformative Peace in Africa at Open Society Foundation, Naomi Kilungu, Founder at AI for Peace Africa & David Lemaiyan, Regional Director for the Eastern and Southern Africa at Open Mapping Hub.

Panelists from Open Society Foundations, AI for Peace Africa, and Open Mapping Hub (part of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team network) make the case that peace itself is a technology problem — one of data accuracy, ethics, governance, and design – not just a political goal. They open with a stark funding gap: Africa is projected to see nearly $100 billion invested in military and war tech by 2025, against a fraction of that (well under $10 billion, some estimates as low as $0.5 billion) going toward peace technology, reflecting where global priorities actually sit.

The discussion moves through concrete examples of tech doing both harm and good in conflict zones – AI-generated misinformation and deepfakes escalating tensions on one side, and open-source humanitarian mapping tools enabling fast, inclusive crisis response on the other. Youth are framed as frontline contributors, mapping conflict-affected areas and building pan-African peacebuilder networks, while the panel closes on a call for cross-disciplinary coalitions – spanning tech, finance, psychosocial, and political expertise – to build a peace tech ecosystem responsibly, with real attention to whose vision of peace is being funded and advanced.

Highlights include
✨ Peace is framed as a data, ethics, governance, and design challenge requiring a full technological ecosystem, not just a political goal.
💸 Africa is projected to see nearly $100 billion invested in war tech by 2025, compared to well under $10 billion for peace tech.
🌍 Open-source mapping tools enable fast, inclusive humanitarian response by removing access barriers during crises.
🤖 AI-generated misinformation and deepfakes worsen tensions in conflict zones — detection tools are being built to counter them.
👩‍💻 Young people are key contributors, mapping conflict-affected areas and building cross-border peacebuilder networks.
💡 Peace tech spans real commercial opportunity — early warning systems, logistics, communication, and conflict resolution.
🤝 Sustainable peace tech requires coalitions across tech, finance, psychosocial, and political sectors, with clear ethical guardrails.

Africa Tech Summit Nairobi 2026 celebrated its 8th edition on February 11th and 12th at the Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi. Bringing together leading industry players the summit explored the latest trends and insights in technology and business across Africa and beyond.

From keynotes to dynamic panel discussions, the summit explored groundbreaking topics across four flagship tracks: the Africa Money & DeFi Summit, Africa Climate Tech & Investment Summit, Africa Startup Summit, and Africa AI & Digital Summit. Attendees immersed themselves in the latest trends, shared ideas, and discovered cutting-edge innovations that are redefining Africa’s tech landscape.