Leap of Faith: Harnessing the potential of Quantum Computing in East Africa
For East Africa, Quantum computing carries a promise of computing power beyond classical computing, unlocking breakthroughs in healthcare, agriculture, climate modelling, and finance. Despite notable ongoing work as of 2025, the International Year of Quantum, concerns are being raised about whether the region is punching above its weight, given its modest contribution to research in this paradigm. Is East Africa ready to capitalise on this disruptive technology of the 21st century?
Understanding Quantum Computing
Quantum computing(QC) is an emergent field of computer science and engineering that harnesses the unique qualities of quantum mechanics to solve problems beyond the ability of even the most powerful classical computers. Classical computing uses traditional bits, which store data as either a 0 or a 1, while quantum computers use qubits, which can exist as 0, 1, or both at the same time. This unique property, known as superposition, allows a quantum computer to evaluate many possibilities simultaneously rather than one at a time.
Another key phenomenon is entanglement, where qubits become linked in such a way that the state of one instantly influences the state of another, even across large distances. This creates deeply coordinated relationships between qubits and enables computations that would be impossible for classical machines to handle efficiently. Together, superposition and entanglement enable quantum parallelism,the ability of a quantum computer to process a massive number of potential solutions at once. While a classical computer would test each option sequentially, a quantum computer can explore a wide landscape of possibilities simultaneously, dramatically accelerating certain calculations.
As the global quantum race intensifies with nations investing billions to secure leadership, the designation of 2025 as the International Year of Quantum, championed by African nations like Ghana, presents a pivotal opportunity for the continent to proactively define its role and avoid technological dependency. Furthermore, with its demographic dividend and growing digital connectivity, East Africa is uniquely positioned to become a crucial innovation hub and an active co-leader in the quantum era, developing bespoke solutions to its unique challenges and securing its technological sovereignty for generations to come.
Regional QC Overview
East Africa’s QC landscape is built on a strong foundation of scientific excellence cultivated by institutions like the African Physical Society, African School of Physics (ASP), and universities, which have nurtured a community skilled in fundamental knowledge, data-intensive research, and high-performance computing.
African Quantum Consortium has launched a vision to unify and accelerate Africa’s quantum ecosystem, and it is worth noting that Kenya and Uganda are among the top 10 scholarly contributors to Quantum Science and Technology in Africa. Today marks the final day of the Africa Quantum Summit hosted by Kenya for further discussion of the African Quantum Strategy, including ways to best secure quantum sovereignty and avoid technological dependency.
This positions East Africa as an emerging frontier within Africa, shaped by growing research communities, demographic advantages, and involvement in wider continental collaboration frameworks. Although the region contributes a modest share of the continent’s overall research output in Quantum Science and Technology (QST), its emerging academic programs and community-led initiatives position it as an important frontier of growth within Africa’s quantum trajectory.
Furthermore, critical to East Africa’s strategic positioning is the Pan-African quantum momentum, where integration into Africa-wide collaboration infrastructures like the African Quantum Consortium (AQC) serves as a unifying platform supporting cross-continental partnerships, knowledge-sharing, and coordinated development. This structure directly benefits East African countries by mitigating local infrastructure shortages and enabling access to broader research communities, cloud quantum systems, and capacity-building networks.
However, the region’s largest gaps are in funding, advanced infrastructure, supercomputing, and specialised talent. Limited high-performance computing access, sparse experimental facilities, and a strong dependence on international collaboration hinder development and risk reinforcing a structural research dependence unless addressed strategically.
QC Opportunities Across Sectors
To realise the potential of the second quantum revolution, East Africa needs to shift from abstract theory to developing concrete applications that provide a clear path for using quantum science to create tangible improvements across various sectors in East Africa. Quantum computing in practice is a development accelerator across multiple sectors to actualise the visions of Agenda 2063 and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In healthcare (SDG 3), quantum sensors can enable the early detection of diseases like tuberculosis and malaria by identifying biomarkers at minute concentrations, while quantum simulation accelerates the discovery of new medicines tailored to the continent’s unique genetic diversity.
For agriculture and food security (SDG 2), quantum computing can optimise fertiliser synthesis and manage supply chains to reduce waste, while quantum sensors provide real-time data for precision farming.
Furthermore, the rapid digitisation of the region’s economies (SDG 9) can be secured by quantum communications, which offer fundamentally secure channels, as demonstrated by early explorations in the finance sector, enhancing cybersecurity.
Finally, in addressing climate and energy challenges (SDGs 7 and 13), quantum computing provides more accurate climate models, while quantum simulation accelerates the design of next-generation materials for green energy production, from solar cells to batteries.
Continental Initiatives
By capitalising on existing momentum, East Africa can leapfrog its QC revolution. For example, Ghana and South Africa are setting the precedent by pioneering a top-down government-driven approach exemplified by the South African Quantum Technology Initiative and the African Quantum Consortium, which act as formal networks to unify continental efforts.
Furthermore, Quantum Leap Africa (QLA) was created by the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) to catalyse top-quality high-impact research in data science, smart systems engineering, and drive the future IT revolution through quantum information. It is also mandated to train the next generation of innovators in information science and technology.
AIMS currently has scientific centres of excellence in South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzania, and Rwanda, and has been providing outstanding postgraduate training to Africa’s top graduates in math, science, and engineering for the past 15 years. By generating a stream of talented young African scientists, AIMS is making an impact in fields ranging from epidemiology and public health to computer science, finance, and astronomy. Similarly, Kenya and Uganda have online QC training courses at The Knowledge Academy, building capacity and equipping learners with the required skillset to harness QC.
Coupled with these is a series of Quantum Africa conferences with one coming up in Nairobi this December, which have fostered collaboration across various universities, researchers in the region, and on the continent at large. Due to the high costs of high computing power, the quantum ecosystem is critically shaped by international public-private partnerships, notably the pivotal role of IBM Research Africa in providing cloud access and community building.
Adoption Challenges in East Africa
The key challenge facing the adoption of quantum technology in Africa is availability. To date, the majority of African countries spend less than 1% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on research and development. The creation of policy and investment constraints with few national quantum strategies, a lack of awareness among industry leaders, calls for the need for demonstration projects and proof of concepts, which may be difficult to apply to quantum computing, hence uncertainties on return on investment.
Such financial constraints also lead to brain drain, whereby African countries lose their quantum technology researchers to the countries that are relatively more resourced. Consequently, African countries face a dearth of quantum technology skills base.
Furthermore, the lack of intra-continental collaboration then leads to the uneven and fragmented access to quantum technology resources; with the African countries, which are relatively well-off, having access to such resources while the relatively low-resourced do not. Additionally, like most STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, where gender disparity is a challenge, the field of quantum technology in Africa is still male-dominated.
Recommendations
For East Africa to benefit from the 2nd Quantum revolution, it must extend past merely understanding quantum phenomena to applying it in the innovation of bespoke solutions for regional needs. Therefore, for the regional growth of the QC landscape, East Africa should:
Prioritise human capital development and talent retention strategies to mitigate brain drain and incentivise brain gain.
Formalise international and intra-African collaboration through regional research networks while capitalising and strengthening the already existent collaborations with pioneering countries like Ghana and South Africa.
Establish a Pan African Quantum Research Fund to cater to hefty QC hardware costs, hence ensuring African ownership of developed technologies, research, and innovation while minimising dependence on foreign cloud access.
Development of supportive policy frameworks, including intellectual property protection and national quantum strategies.
Conclusion
As the United Nations celebrates the 100th anniversary of quantum mechanics, East Africa is presented with a narrow but critical window of opportunity to harness its unique strategies for quantum adoption, aligning with Africa 2063 guidelines and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. That way, the region can come up with bespoke quantum solutions tailored to regional needs, and East Africa can strategically shape its quantum future rather than risk becoming a passive consumer of foreign technologies that could introduce further technological dependence.
