Only 17% of respondents report using GenAI every day.
Africa’s workforce is embracing artificial intelligence (AI) at a faster pace than global peers, but pressure is mounting for organisations to ramp up digital skills development as generative AI (GenAI) begins reshaping roles across industries.
This is according to PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2025, which shows a continent ready for AI-enabled transformation, but facing a narrowing window to prepare, through skills development initiatives.
The survey, covering nearly 50 000 workers worldwide and 1 753 across South Africa, Algeria, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria, finds that African employees are already integrating AI into daily operations.
Sixty-four percent of respondents in Africa used AI tools in the past year, compared to 54% globally, and the sentiment is overwhelmingly positive. While only 17% report using GenAI every day, confidence in its benefits is high: 76% believe GenAI improves work quality, and 72% expect AI-driven productivity gains within three years.
In SA, executives are even more bullish, as 91% say AI has already lifted both productivity and work quality — a signal that leadership is pushing harder toward AI-enabled ways of working, notes the survey.
However, this optimism is coupled with rising concern about future readiness. Only 35% of African workers believe their skills will still be relevant three years from now. With GenAI expected to affect nearly half of all job roles, PwC warns that the continent’s workforce risks falling behind unless organisations accelerate large-scale reskilling.
Despite the pressures, employees are not standing still. PwC notes that African workers outperform their global peers in proactive learning, recording 15% higher participation in skills-building and receiving 6% more support from managers. This indicates that both workers and immediate supervisors recognise the pace of AI adoption and are pushing to adapt.
PwC Africa people and organisation leader, Dr Dayalan Govender, says the moment calls for decisive leadership. Organisations, he argues, must integrate AI into workforce strategies, accelerate digital adoption, and expand upskilling programmes at scale.
“Africa’s workforce is optimistic and ready for change, but leaders must accelerate digital adoption and invest in future-ready skills to convert this optimism into sustainable growth,” he says.
Beyond the technology shift, the survey captures a workforce hungry for growth but constrained by financial pressure. Many employees are preparing to make career moves: 45% plan to request a raise, and another 45% aim for a promotion in the next year. Yet household financial stability remains strained, with only a third of respondents reporting any money left over for savings.
Still, Africa’s workplaces continue to show strong foundations of trust and purpose — elements PwC believes will be critical in navigating GenAI disruption. More than 55% of workers trust management, and two-thirds say their work feels meaningful, both above global averages.
With AI adoption rising and employees motivated to reinvent their careers, PwC warns that the coming years will determine whether Africa’s early optimism translates into long-term competitiveness as GenAI transforms the world of work.
The report calls for embedding AI into workforce strategies to bridge the gap between optimism and practical adoption, scaling upskilling initiatives to prepare for GenAI disruption, and fostering trust and psychological safety to retain talent and drive innovation.
“For employers, these findings are a stark reminder that they can and should do more to help workers understand, adopt, and embrace AI’s transformative power.
“Employers may need to pay special attention to entry-level workers, nearly a third of whom say they’re worried to a large or very large extent about AI’s impact on their future, even as they’re also curious (47%) and optimistic (38%) about its long-term societal effects,” notes the report.
