New alliance boosts African robotics market

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 28 Jan 2026
AfricAI secures exclusive continental rights to deploy advanced robotics platforms across Africa in landmark deal with Micropolis Robotics.
AfricAI secures exclusive continental rights to deploy advanced robotics platforms across Africa in landmark deal with Micropolis Robotics.

AfricAI and Micropolis Robotics have signed a multi-year exclusive distribution and deployment agreement, which marks one of the continent's most significant robotics market entries.

Micropolis AI Robotics is a United Arab Emirates-based robotics manufacturer operating in autonomous systems, while AfricAI is a company building practical, revenue-driven artificial intelligence (AI) systems for African businesses, governments, and global partners operating in emerging markets.

According to the agreement, Micropolis Robotics named AfricAI as its exclusive continental partner, prohibiting direct sales, alternative distributors, and third-party agents from operating in the territory.

The partnership establishes AfricAI as the primary execution, localisation, and go-to-market platform for intelligent robotics in Africa's industrial, security, logistics, and infrastructure sectors.

AfricAI said this exclusive mandate positions the company as the gateway for advanced autonomous systems entering African markets, ensuring regulatory compliance, local capacity building, and sovereign control over deployment frameworks.

The partnership, according to the two parties, moves beyond software- based AI into the realm of physical AI — intelligent machines capable of operating in complex, real-world African environments.

“This is not a collaboration, it is a market-shaping mandate,” said Fareed Aljawhari, CEO of Micropolis Robotics. “AfricAI now represents the exclusive gateway through which Micropolis technologies enter Africa. Their sovereign AI vision, operational reach, and regulatory fluency make them the only partner capable of executing at a continental scale.

Furthermore, the agreement enables AfricAI to integrate Micropolis' autonomous robotics systems with AfricAI's sovereign AI stack, resulting in AI-powered security and surveillance platforms, robotics-enabled logistics and port operations, industrial automation , smart infrastructure, and municipal robotics tailored to African operating conditions.

Initial deployments will commence in security, smart infrastructure, and logistics, with phased expansion across multiple African states as part of AfricAI’s broader continental AI, data, and intelligent infrastructure strategy.

The agreement also includes long-term performance-linked expansion rights, automatic renewals, and a defined localisation framework to support robotics deployment, workforce training, and skills transfer across Africa.

Prince Malik Ado-Ibrahim, executive chairman of AfricAI, said: “Africa does not need imported automation — it needs sovereign, context-aware intelligent systems. This exclusive mandate allows AfricAI to industrialise robotics deployment at scale while retaining control, compliance, and value creation on the continent.”

Share

Read more
ITWeb proudly displays the “FAIR” stamp of the Press Council of South Africa, indicating our commitment to adhere to the Code of Ethics for Print and online media which prescribes that our reportage is truthful, accurate and fair. Should you wish to lodge a complaint about our news coverage, please lodge a complaint on the Press Council’s website, www.presscouncil.org.za or email the complaint to enquiries@ombudsman.org.za. Contact the Press Council on 011 484 3612.
Copyright @ 1996 - 2026 ITWeb Limited. All rights reserved.