• Tanzania ranks 25th of 56 Commonwealth countries, scoring 45.5 out of 100, below the study’s readiness benchmark of 53.
• The research identifies a potential AI-related increase in GDP of US$1.307 billion after ten years, rising to US$1.983 billion in its optimistic scenario.
• Just 32.3% of young Tanzanians reported using the internet in the research examined, while electricity reaches only 52.4% of the population.
• Drawing on 1,128 research sources, the Ayre Index examines the conditions affecting approximately 732 million young people across all the Commonwealth’s countries.
St John’s, 5 November 2026: Artificial intelligence could make Tanzania’s economy US$1.307 billion larger after ten years, according to major new research highlighting the potential for better jobs and successful businesses but warning that limited access to electricity and the internet could prevent many young people from benefiting.
The Ayre Index, launched at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, places Tanzania 25th out of 56 Commonwealth countries for youth AI readiness. It scores 45.5 out of 100, below the study’s benchmark of 53. Only 15 Commonwealth countries meet that level.
Research by the Ayre Think Tank, founded by Antiguan-Canadian philanthropist Calvin Ayre, finds that access to technology is a major obstacle in Tanzania. Just 32.3% of young people reported using the internet and 58.4% owned a mobile phone, while electricity reaches only 52.4% of the population.
These limitations make it difficult for many young Tanzanians to take advantage
of online education, develop businesses or benefit from AI.
Employment is another challenge. The research finds that many young Tanzanians work in informal or temporary jobs, with some earning too little to escape poverty despite being employed.
Tanzania also scores just 2.3 out of 10 for education and training under the Index’s selected measures. The opportunity is to combine better access to technology with practical training that helps young people find paid work, establish successful businesses and increase their incomes.
There are encouraging signs that some young Tanzanians are already using AI for practical purposes. In a survey of 319 Tanzanian university students aged 18 to 29 who already used ChatGPT, 67.1% reported using it to help with their studies at least sometimes. Tanzania scores 8.3 out of 10 for purposeful AI use and creation, which examines how AI is being used for activities such as learning, working and completing tasks.
However, this score relies on the student survey and records of conversations involving users of all ages with one AI assistant, rather than a representative survey of young Tanzanians. The findings suggest promising engagement with AI but do not establish how widely young people are using it or whether it is improving their education and employment prospects.
The economic stakes are considerable for Tanzania, home to approximately 19.2 million young people aged 15 to 29. Applying economic scenarios developed by the International Monetary Fund to the country’s GDP, the researchers calculate that AI could increase the level of the country’s GDP by US$1.307 billion after ten years in the moderate case. The conservative estimate is US$631 million, rising to US$1.983 billion under the optimistic scenario.
Calvin Ayre, founder of the Ayre Think Tank, said: “I’ve spent my life in businesses where new technology changes everything, and I know you can’t stand still. AI is going to change how we work, how we do business and how wealth is created. But this is not a race that only the biggest or richest countries can win. What matters is giving young people the skills and the chance to get ahead – whether to start businesses, find jobs or build something for themselves.
Some Commonwealth countries are ahead, others have catching up to do. Nobody can afford to be complacent. That’s why we created this Index. It shows countries where they stand, what they’re getting right and where they need to do better. Governments now have to decide what they’re going to do about it.”
Tanzania is already taking steps to turn artificial intelligence into new employment and business opportunities. In March 2026, Absa Bank Tanzania, working with Microsoft and Women in Tech Global, launched the ElevateHer AI Programme, aiming to train 5,000 young Tanzanian women in practical AI skills for business and employment. In June, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences announced an AI training and innovation programme to help students and young technology innovators develop solutions to healthcare challenges.
Progress is also being made in improving the infrastructure needed to benefit from AI. In June 2026, the World Bank reported that 7.5 million Tanzanians had gained access to electricity through the Mission 300 initiative. More recently, in October, East African Community ministers meeting in Arusha adopted a regional AI strategy and approved a new AI teaching module for universities, alongside the development of certification standards for Kiswahili. These initiatives will help strengthen Tanzania’s technological foundations, while closer links between training and employment and greater support for young entrepreneurs will help translate AI into successful
businesses, better jobs and rising incomes.
The White Paper identifies five priorities: affordable and reliable access to technology; education that develops practical skills; stronger routes from training into employment and enterprise; AI tools suited to local languages and needs; and safeguards that enable young people to question automated decisions.
It calls on governments, educators and development partners to better understand the particular barriers young people face in each country before deciding where investment can make the greatest impact.
Professor C. Justin Robinson, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal of the University of the West Indies, Five Islands Campus, said: “We need to make sure that the next generation will be able to do more than just consume AI products made elsewhere. Access must come with its own agency and a real equitable stake in how these systems are governed. Young people need to be equipped to question these new tools, to improve them and to be supported in building alternatives suited to their own needs. Whether that happens, will depend on choices made now.
This index gives us a clearer view of where those choices are most urgent. We should use it.”
The White Paper, The Ayre Index: The 2026 Commonwealth Youth AI Readiness Index, can be downloaded here:
White Paper for media distribution
Photos, logos and graphics for publication including a graphic card for every country
featured on the list (crediting the Ayre Think Tank) can be downloaded here:
Photo, logos and graphics for every country download link
THE AYRE INDEX: 56 COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES
Published ranking, out of 100. The study’s readiness benchmark is 53 points, between Nigeria(15th) and Seychelles (16th).
Rank Commonwealth country
Index
score
Scoring coverage
(of 102)
Data Gap Index (of
100)
1 Singapore 77.6 75 37.7
2 Malta 75.0 68 41.4
3 Australia 71.0 76 26.2
4 United Kingdom 70.8 84 20.1
5 Canada 70.2 76 31.8
6 Malaysia 69.0 72 29.0
7 Cyprus 67.4 74 34.1
8 Mauritius 64.4 61 49.4
9 New Zealand 63.9 55 50.1
10 Brunei Darussalam 62.3 57 56.3
11 India 60.6 80 20.7
12 Fiji 56.9 60 47.9
13 South Africa 56.8 75 32.0
14 Trinidad and Tobago 56.5 58 56.6
15 Nigeria 54.5 82 17.4
16 Seychelles 51.8 39 73.1
17 Ghana 51.2 73 31.7
5
Rank Commonwealth country
Index
score
Scoring coverage
(of 102)
Data Gap Index (of
100)
18 Jamaica 50.7 61 51.2
19 Sri Lanka 49.9 54 52.7
20 Zambia 48.8 65 40.5
21 Bangladesh 48.7 84 14.4
22 Kenya 48.7 66 42.9
23 Uganda 47.0 61 50.0
24 Pakistan 46.4 84 15.7
25 Tanzania 45.5 63 41.0
26 Gabon 45.3 43 67.1
27 Antigua and Barbuda 45.2 41 70.6
28 Maldives 44.9 41 71.4
29 Cameroon 44.9 54 53.9
30 The Bahamas 44.7 35 78.5
31 Guyana 44.5 49 65.5
32 Papua New Guinea 44.1 38 67.9
33 Sierra Leone 43.6 64 46.5
34 Barbados 43.0 43 70.5
35 Belize 42.8 50 65.2
36 Namibia 42.7 52 56.2
37 Togo 42.6 58 51.8
38 Grenada 41.7 45 66.2
39 Nauru 41.6 44 69.2
40 Dominica 41.3 37 75.1
41 Samoa 41.0 47 65.1
42 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 39.5 38 72.1
43 Saint Kitts and Nevis 39.0 37 75.1
44 Mozambique 38.9 53 58.1
45 Botswana 38.9 63 53.8
46 Kiribati 38.4 44 66.9
47 Rwanda 38.1 60 50.2
6
Rank Commonwealth country
Index
score
Scoring coverage
(of 102)
Data Gap Index (of
100)
48 Tonga 37.9 49 62.8
49 Saint Lucia 37.5 52 61.6
50 The Gambia 37.3 63 41.9
51 Vanuatu 37.1 48 64.7
52 Eswatini 36.9 51 62.7
53 Solomon Islands 32.0 36 75.6
54 Tuvalu 31.6 42 69.1
55 Lesotho 27.8 55 54.9
56 Malawi 26.3 59 53.0
Scoring coverage is the number of the 102 scored indicators with a usable value, including permitted estimates. TheData Gap Index is a separate weighted measure of missing qualifying evidence across all 111 indicators.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Research scope: The Ayre Index: The 2026 Commonwealth Youth AI Readiness Index is the Ayre Think Tank’s inaugural White Paper. It assesses the conditions that may help people aged 15 to 29 benefit from AI in all 56 Commonwealth countries. Researchers reviewed 1,128 sources, including official statistics, international databases, surveys and published studies.
What is measured: The framework comprises eight pillars, 39 sub-pillars and 111 indicators, covering access to technology, digital capability, AI use, education, employment and enterprise, rights and safeguards, confidence and the ability to question AI. Comparable evidence was insufficient to score the eighth pillar, critical judgement and human agency. The published rankings therefore use 102 indicators across seven pillars.
How scores are calculated: Each usable indicator is scored from 0 to 10 under a common set of predefined rules. Scores are averaged into sub-pillars and then pillars, which have equal weight in the overall score out of 100. Countries are scored on the four to seven pillars for which they have usable information. Indicator scoring used an AI model following a fixed rubric, with scores checked against the scoring bands; second scoring produced the same result in 1,848 of 1,854 cases.
The underlying data and calculation code are published alongside the Index, allowing the scores to be independently reproduced.
The readiness benchmark: A study-defined benchmark of 53 out of 100 was selected after six statistical methods were used to examine the distribution of scores and comparisons with established measures of AI preparedness.
Five of the six methods’ uncertainty ranges include
53. Fifteen countries reach or exceed this benchmark while 41 fall below it. The benchmark is a comparative research measure, not an IMF threshold or a guarantee of economic gains.
Gaps and limitations: The Index measures conditions associated with readiness; it does not test the AI competence of every young person. Sources span different years and age groups, and some indicators use permitted estimates or published stand-ins. The separate Data Gap Index records missing qualifying evidence across all 111 indicators; a higher data-gap score indicates more missing information and does not reduce the readiness score. Scoring coverage, shown in the table, counts usable values including permitted estimates.
Economic illustrations: To illustrate the potential economic scale of AI, the Ayre Think Tank applied the International Monetary Fund’s low and high ten-year GDP-level effects for broad economic groups to World Bank national GDP figures for 2025 (2024 for The Bahamas).
The moderate scenario is the midpoint of the low and high estimates, calculated by the researchers.
The figures describe possible effects on the level of GDP after ten years, not annual increases, accumulated gains over a decade, country-specific forecasts or the additional GDP that crossing the Index benchmark would cause. The estimates concern whole economies and do not calculate how much young people would receive.
ABOUT THE AYRE THINK TANK AND CALVIN AYRE FOUNDATION;
The Ayre Think Tank conducts research into the opportunities and challenges created by
emerging technologies, with a focus on inclusion, connection, prosperity and progress. Working
with the Calvin Ayre Foundation, it seeks to identify how technological advances can deliver
practical benefits for people and communities. The Ayre Index is its inaugural White Paper.
The Calvin Ayre Foundation is an independent charitable organisation based in Antigua and
Barbuda. Founded by entrepreneur and philanthropist Calvin Ayre, it supports education, social
development and communities in need, including disaster and emergency response.
Find the entire statement; Press Release – Ayre Index – Tanzania (1)
