Resources

Building upon the recommendations of UNESCO report Steering AI and Advanced ICTs for Knowledge Societies, the findings of this survey aim to bridge the information gap concerning the strategic priorities, policy measures, developmental challenges, human and institutional capacity needs, and legal frameworks concerning AI in African countries. In order to facilitate knowledge exchange and learning from the experience of others, several AI policy repositories and observatories are collecting information about national initiatives for AI governance. However, information about African initiatives is scarce. This report aims to bridge this information gap concerning the strategic priorities, policy measures, developmental challenges, human and institutional capacity needs, legal frameworks concerning AI in African countries and to highlight questions related to gender equality in the development and use of AI. Further, despite the encouraging signs of digital innovation and development across Africa, more can be done to create an enabling environment for the development and use of AI for human rights and sustainable development and to ensure that Africa actively participates and contributes to the development and use of AI. Exploring this further was the objective of this survey. The report is divided into two sections. Section one presents results of a survey of policy initiatives, legal and regulatory frameworks, and capacities for AI governance in the 32 African countries that responded to the survey. The section further elaborates on the priorities of these countries, with a detailed focus on AI capacities for education, research, training and data. Section two briefly discusses AI governance in Africa within the larger context of digital cooperation at the global level and presents recommendations for policy development and capacity building in Africa based on the findings of the survey.