AI Governance Toolkit for Africa: An African Perspective to the Design, Deployment and Governance of AI

The AI Governance Toolkit for Africa is a comprehensive framework designed to help African nations develop and implement effective AI governance structures that align with their unique contexts and needs.

Authors​

Published: 10 February 2025

Authors: Jacquelene Mwangi, Doctoral Candidate at Harvard Law School, and David Lemayian of Qubit Hub / QTrust

Guidance: Dr. Shikoh Gitau (PhD), CEO of Qhala, and Lacina Koné, Director General / CEO of Smart Africa

Overview​

The toolkit provides practical guidance, resources and tools to help policymakers, regulators and other stakeholders establish robust governance frameworks for the responsible development and deployment of AI technologies in Africa.

Summary​

On the continent, organisations and individuals alike are leveraging Artifi cial Intelligence (AI) to accelerate social progress and spearhead sustainable solutions. Companies like Lima Labs in Kenya employ drones and cutting-edge machine learning to automate data collection for crop monitoring. Their solution allows farmers to use less pesticides and have more accurate production planning to make informed long and short term decisions. Intron Health in Nigeria is tackling clinical documentation with real-time clinical speech-to-text for 200+ African accents, easing the transition to digitised care.2 And multiple edutech companies are using AI to create personalised learning solutions.

However at the same time, African countries’ readiness to adopt AI is lagging behind the rest of the world with Sub-Saharan Africa having the lowest average score of any world region in the Oxford Insights Government AI Readiness Index 2023. These challenges are compounded by the growing inequality in access to compute and developing countries bearing the brunt of the environmental costs of digitalization while reaping fewer benefits.

In its 2024 “Governing AI for Humanity” report, the United Nations AI Advisory body notes that many African countries are not included in major international AI governance initiatives. Out of 7 prominent non-UN AI initiatives analysed, 48 out of 54 African countries were not involved in any of them.5 This, among other factors, is why we have developed this guide.

The AI Governance Toolkit for African Policymakers is a resource designed to assist African States in developing locally-rooted AI Governance Systems and Frameworks. It addresses AI governance from multiple angles, including national ecosystem building, and policy and regulatory frameworks. It also promotes fl exible and responsive governance approaches that can evolve with technological advancements. The first 2 chapters introduce the foundational aspects of the toolkit, namely, the essential components of an AI governance ecosystem for African countries, and the essential tools for developing national AI.

Full PDF​

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