The African Union AI Continental Strategy: Examining the African AI Landscape

Gregory C Allen, director of the Wadwani Center for AI and Advanced Technologies, introduces a panel and keynote discussion focusing on the African Union's AI strategy and developments in AI across Africa. The keynote presenter, Barbara Glover from the African Union Development Agency, discusses the AU's work on AI and seeks global perspectives on shaping AI regulations and policies. Glover outlines the African Union Development Agency's five mandates, emphasizing the importance of a knowledge-driven approach to policy development.

Barbara Glover explains the African Union Development Agency's role in coordinating regional and continental projects, strengthening member states' capacities, providing knowledge-based advisory support, mobilizing resources, and serving as a technical interface with development partners. She discusses the three major components of the Science, Policy, and Innovation Nexus implementation: science policy and enablers, technology platforms, and the Energize Africa initiative. Glover also highlights the importance of considering youth in policy and innovation, the African Union's 50-year blueprint (Agenda 2063), and the development of a 10-year Science, Technology, and Innovation strategy for Africa.

The African Union has established structures for decision-making and implementation, with the African Union Development Agency acting as an interface with development partners, private sectors, and regional economic communities. The African Union High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies was established to advance responsible AI, strengthen policymakers' capacities, and address misconceptions about AI. Glover provides an overview of the Continental Strategy's six pillars: human capital development, infrastructure and data foundations, enabling environment for AI, AI economy, sustainable partnerships, and monitoring and evaluation.

The African Union has engaged various stakeholders, including governments, academic institutions, industry leaders, civil society, and international partners, to gather diverse insights and perspectives on AI. The process involves workshops, seminars, online surveys, feedback forms, and public forums. The deadline for receiving inputs on the AI strategy white paper is May 31, 2024, with the aim to finalize and present the strategy to policy organs between June and July 2024. The next steps include developing a compendium, a digital platform for AI strategies in Africa, and a digital readiness index to evaluate African nations' preparedness for AI adoption.

Sheila Chima discusses the private sector's perspective on AI in Africa, highlighting the use of AI to solve infrastructure challenges and improve business competitiveness. She provides examples from the healthcare and fintech sectors, emphasizing the importance of local context in AI applications. Chima also touches on the potential of AI in agriculture and the need for African countries to move beyond merely providing data to actively participating in AI innovation.

Chinasa Okolo provides insights into the African Union's AI strategy development process, emphasizing the focus on leveraging AI for socioeconomic development. He mentions the lack of enforcement capacity within the African Union compared to regional bodies like the EU but notes promising activity at the individual member state level. Okolo also discusses the importance of responsible and safe AI development, which is a focus for many African countries, alongside the need for investment and adoption promotion.

Sheila Chima, as a representative of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in East Africa, discusses the types of companies and problems they are tackling with AI. She emphasizes the importance of local context and data ownership, suggesting that African countries should not just be data providers but should actively participate in AI innovation. Chima also highlights the need for government support in areas such as infrastructure development, energy, and access to technology for local researchers.

NE London SOA, a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana, talks about the academic and educational sector's engagement with AI. He discusses research on language translation and the creation of large language models in local languages. SOA also mentions the scattered AI landscape in Ghana and the need for a centralized platform for sharing research. He highlights the use of AI by students in capstone projects across various sectors, including healthcare, security, and agriculture.

Chinasa Okolo discusses workforce development in the context of the African Union's AI strategy, emphasizing the need for education system improvements and increased opportunities for post-doctoral researchers. He also stresses the importance of funding for research labs and the role of academic research in providing fundamental datasets and machine learning models for commercial AI models.

The panelists discuss effective ways for the international community to engage with the African Union's AI strategy and developments across the continent. They highlight the importance of thoughtful local context consideration, localization of services, and mutually beneficial partnerships that align with the local economic development agenda. The panelists also emphasize the need for international partners to advocate for AI and educate the general public on the continent.

The panel concludes with a summary of the key points discussed during the event, including the African Union's AI strategy, the role of various sectors in AI development, and the importance of international engagement. The panelists express their appreciation for the opportunity to share their expertise and insights, and they encourage continued work on African AI policy and AI policy in the international context.