Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly the subject of a global discourse on the need for a regulatory policy framework. The discourse is as prevalent across Africa as in other parts of the world but occurs within a very different context and set of challenges.
Africa is deeply intertwined with global AI developments. For example, OpenAI hires Kenyans to monitor ChatGPT. Similarly, WorldCoin, a financial network rooted in AI research, is active across the continent. However, the company was temporarily banned in Kenya over concerns about data privacy practices. In both cases, questions arose based on the tensions between global corporations’ objectives, data privacy, and the priorities of low-income countries.
Like in other parts of the world, AI is part of a broader conversation on citizen-government trust. Across Africa, many countries are still relatively early in their electoral democracies. There is a fear that AI, social media, and elections can threaten some countries’ steady progress. Alternatively, more politically closed countries on the continent are improving their ability to shut down the internet and use online repressive tactics with the help of AI.
Yet, there are clear social and economic benefits and opportunities for AI. Smart agriculture, health information technology and localized interventions, climate monitoring and adaptation, among others, are all being developed and utilized across the continent.
The African Union (AU) and African member-states recognize these potentials as well as the distinct challenges the continent faces related to developmental deficits in areas such as energy, digital infrastructure, and education. There is also the recognition that African countries are generally behind in developing AI action strategies and regulatory frameworks compared to other parts of the world, with less than half the continent having either in-process or approved strategies and regulations.
AU Continental AI Strategy
As the continental body, the AU plays an important role in agenda-setting and supporting member states on areas of common concern. The AU attempts to play a key role in continental issues that cut across national boundaries and require continental cooperation. The AU provides leadership on these issues by cooperatively developing strategies and frameworks that African states can use to inform their policy and strategy development processes.
On AI, the AU has taken leadership in coordinating a Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy to ensure AI strategies and regulations are appropriate, ethical, and equitable for African economies and societies. In June 2024, the African Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Communications Ministers approved the strategy, and the AU Executive Council subsequently approved it in July 2024.
Per the Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy, there are five focus areas and fifteen action areas dedicated to a “people-centric, development-oriented and inclusive approach” towards AI regulation. The focus and action areas build on the African Union’s (and the Organization of African States before it) commitment to removing colonial legacies and ensuring more equitable participation in global systems by investing in AI research and development beyond its Western, Eurocentric origins. Additionally, the strategy attempts to align with the African Union’s development goals in Agenda 2063 while addressing the global and context-specific risks of increasing AI use.
Now launched, the AU Continental AI Strategy is expected to be a foundational framework for developing country-specific policies and regulations in African countries.
Case Examples: AI Strategy in Kenya and Ghana
Nationalizing the AU Continental AI Strategy is designed to provide common frameworks and understandings while allowing the strategy to be tailored to a country’s specific context, needs, policies, and goals. Several countries across the continent have ongoing AI strategies and regulatory development processes that factor in AU Inputs, local factors, and international guidance, such as the UNESCO Recommendations on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.
Kenya
Kenya has emerged as a top investment destination on the continent for global tech giants like Google, Meta, TikTok, and Microsoft. Additionally, venture capital investments in the country have increased rapidly since 2021. ICT infrastructure investment is attracting other international corporations and a vibrant tech-based startup culture, with some labeling Kenya as the “Silicon Savannah.”
Over the past six years, the Kenyan government has increasingly focused on AI. In 2018, Kenya established a Distributed Ledgers Technology and AI Task Force, which subsequently published a report in 2019 recommending increased investment in infrastructure and skills and further proposed strategies to balance innovation and regulation in the Kenyan private sector. Kenya developed the National Digital Master Plan 2022-2032 that encouraged the uptake of research and development in the AI industry and set out a strategy to increase AI capacity and regulation. In collaboration with development partners, Kenya also collaborates on the FAIR Forward – Artificial Intelligence for All initiative as a step toward a national AI strategy.
In addition to engagements with the African Union, UNESCO and the German international development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) are playing key roles in supporting Kenya’s Ministry of ICT and Digital Economy to develop National Emerging Technologies and AI Strategy Frameworks.
Ghana
Similarly, in Ghana, AI is being integrated into agricultural, mining, energy, and health systems, among other sectors; Google opened an AI research center in Accra; and the government is already investing in AI ‘infrastructure’ and areas identified by the AU Continental AI Strategy focusing on digital literacy, training programs, and physical infrastructure.
Many of these training programs are focused on diversity and developing a more equitable workforce. For example, Ghana Tech Lab supports women’s enrollment in AI training programs. Similarly, the Ministry of Communication launched a program called ‘Ms. Geek’, aimed at increasing gender diversity in STEM. Other initiatives include an all-women technology lab launched in 2016 to advance women-led technology businesses.
With an understanding that AI is already being integrated into practice by Ghana’s private and public sectors, the government has been advancing consultations and policy discussions towards a national AI strategy. Like Kenya, the consultation and formulation process has received support through GIZ and UN bodies focused on advancing the development of local policy frameworks for AI.
Future of AI Policy in Africa
The AU’s Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy marks a significant milestone for the continent and will be key to advancing national policies. Importantly, the strategy is focused on an Africa-centered approach that promotes partnership and collaboration between countries while aligning with continental values. At the same time, recognizing differences in the African context, whether economic, social, or political, is important to ensuring ethical and equitable AI use and engagement that allows for the full benefit of digital transformation.
