#Morocco #innovation – Morocco’s Ministry of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform has launched the Rally AI Future Lab, a national initiative organised by the Jazari Institute under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI. The lab brings together 1,000 researchers, engineers, students, entrepreneurs and developers for a five-day intensive programme in the city of Merzouga, from 16 to 20 June 2026. Under Morocco’s broader AI Made in Morocco strategy, the programme is designed to build technological sovereignty by developing locally designed AI solutions tailored to the real needs of citizens, government and the national economy. The Rally AI Future Lab has an ambition to reach 5,000 participants across multiple cohorts throughout the Kingdom’s 12 regions.

SO WHAT? – In January, Morocco launched AI Made in Morocco, a national artificial intelligence initiative targeting a 100 billion dirham ($10 billion) contribution to GDP and the creation of 50,000 AI-related jobs. The new Rally AI Future Lab forms part of the effort to build domestic AI capability from the ground up. The programme will play a role in talent, prototyping AI solutions and creating a pipeline from idea to operational product. In line with other recent initiatives, the government made a deliberate effort to launch the programme in Merzouga, in the east of Morocco, demonstrating that this is a national programme that will reach the whole country.

KEY POINTS:

• The Rally AI Future Lab was launched by Morocco’s Ministry of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, in line with Royal Directives for digital development, innovation and human capital enhancement. The initiative reflects AI’s elevation to a matter of national strategic priority in Morocco.

• Organised under the umbrella of the Jazari Institute, the inaugural lab runs from 16 to 20 June 2026 in Merzouga, in the Drâa-Tafilalet region. By choosing to launch Rally AI Future Lab in Merzouga rather than Rabat or Casablanca, the government is demonstrating that it is serious about national inclusion across all 12 regions. Around 1,000 participants will take part in an intensive five-day programme combining training, experimentation, prototyping and mentoring.

• The programme targets the creation of high-impact AI projects across four priority areas: modernisation of public services, administrative efficiency, digital inclusion and economic competitiveness. The focus is on applied, citizen-facing solutions rather than purely academic or experimental outputs.

• The initiative has a stated ambition of reaching 5,000 participants divided across several cohorts throughout Morocco. The phased expansion model is designed to build a sustained national innovation initiative rather than a one-off event.

• Rally AI Future Lab builds directly on the success of the RamadanIA Hackathon, which was deployed across all twelve regions of Morocco and mobilised more than 700 participants and around 50 mentors. The national final in Rabat brought together nearly 170 selected talents, with several teams distinguishing themselves through the maturity of their AI solutions.

• The initiative sits within Morocco’s broader AI Made in Morocco strategy, which aims to use AI as a lever for technological sovereignty, economic competitiveness and public sector transformation. The strategy seeks to unite public, private, academic and international ecosystems around concrete solutions designed in Morocco and adapted to local needs.

• The Ministry describes its goal as installing a sustainable architecture of innovation. The emphasis is on the gradual, structured transition from ideas to operational solutions at national scale.

ZOOM OUT – The Rally AI Future Lab connects to a wider architecture Morocco is building to build AI capability across all twelve of its regions. Last year, Digital Transition Minister Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni announced plans to expand the Al Jazari Institute nationwide, creating a network of centres of excellence specifically in Morocco's less developed and less populated regions. The inaugural Al Jazari Institute is located in the Guelmim-Oued Noun region in the southwest, and a memorandum of understanding has been signed to establish a second institute in Nador, in the northeast Rif region, marking the start of a national rollout. The institutes are mandated to deliver four functions: training and skills development, applied research and co-innovation, shared digital platforms and data infrastructure, and incubation and acceleration of AI solutions.

[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]

Source: Ministère de la Transition numérique et de la Réforme de l’administration

#Nigeria #governance – Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has launched his vision for a National AI Trust at a two-day convening hosted by Warwick Business School in London, describing it as the first institution of its kind in the world. The Trust, already approved by Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council, is designed to mobilise resources, guide responsible AI adoption and ensure strategic, ethical AI investment across key economic sectors. The London convening, organised in partnership with pan-African innovation hub Co-creation Hub (CcHUB) and the US-based MacArthur Foundation, brought together senior Nigerian government representatives, international AI experts, business leaders, academics and public interest groups to help shape the Trust’s design and governance framework.

SO WHAT? – Most African governments are still at the strategy document stage of AI governance and many have constrictive budget limitations. With the third largest GDP in Africa, Nigeria has the opportunity to go further and faster, but the government clearly recognises the the risks too. The government is forming a dedicated institutional body with trustee oversight, designed to provide sustainable stewardship of AI development beyond the electoral cycle. By creating an institution that outlasts the present government, governance will be able to take a longer-term view somewhat independent of politics. If Nigeria’s National AI Trust delivers on its promise, then it could become a governance model for other nations too.

KEY POINTS:

• Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council has approved the creation of the National AI Trust, a proposed institution intended to mobilise resources, guide responsible AI adoption and ensure strategic and ethical AI investment across key economic sectors. As described by Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Hon. Dr. Bosun Tijani The Trust will be a first-of-its-kind institution.

• Dr. Tijani led the London convening at Warwick Business School, his alma mater, as one of three co-creation workshops the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy is holding to shape the Trust’s design. Tijani was named in Time Magazine’s 2025 list of the 100 Most Influential People in AI.

• The Trust is envisioned as a body of trustees that will ensure AI development and deployment delivers broad-based economic and social value for all Nigerians. It will provide oversight and stewardship rather than direct operational control of AI systems or programmes.

• A key design principle is institutional longevity beyond the present government. Tijani was explicit that the Trust must demonstrate impact and value to ensure it survives political transitions, framing governance continuity as foundational to Nigeria’s long-term AI competitiveness.

• The convening was organised in partnership with CcHUB and the MacArthur Foundation, the US-based philanthropic organisation. Lagos and Nairobi-based CcHUB is the leading pan-African innovation ecosystem enabler, operating across more than 40 African countries.

• The National AI Trust is designed to sit alongside Nigeria’s infrastructure investment agenda. Minister Tijani is simultaneously raising $2 billion for Project BRIDGE, an initiative to lay 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable network across Nigeria. The announcement of the Trust frames the government’s vision for governance and physical infrastructure as two equally essential and interdependent foundations for AI-led development.

• Nigeria’s participation in the global AI race is framed explicitly as an African representation issue. Tijani argued that as AI systems expand globally, diverse contexts and perspectives must be embedded in their development: and that the National AI Trust can play a role in ensuring Africa’s voice is present in shaping how AI evolves internationally.

ZOOM OUT – The National AI Trust builds on the foundations laid by Nigeria’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, launched in 2025. The strategy sets out the country’s vision to become a global leader in AI through ethical and inclusive innovation, local talent development and strategic international collaboration. It is structured around five pillars: building foundational AI infrastructure; developing a world-class AI ecosystem; accelerating AI adoption and sector transformation; ensuring responsible and ethical AI development; and establishing a robust AI governance framework. Underpinning these pillars are 34 specific strategies designed to drive economic growth and competitiveness, and improve social outcomes in healthcare, agriculture and education.

[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]

Source: Ministry of CIDE, Various

Read about other African AI strategies:

• Libya launches National AI Strategy with 35 initiatives (Africa AI News)

• Rwanda creates dedicated National AI Agency (Africa AI News)

• Zimbabwe unpacks national AI strategy (Africa AI News)

• Mozambique presents draft AI Strategy (Africa AI News)

• Ghana launches AI strategy (Africa AI News)

• Mauritius launches new National AI Strategy (Africa AI News)

Welcome to this week’s Africa AI News email digest!

A busy week for AI across Africa. In this edition, Libya launches its National AI Strategy and AI Ethics Charter with 35 initiatives through 2030; Rwanda creates a dedicated National AI Agency; Nigeria’s central bank introduces an AI-driven real-time fraud detection system; and South Africa and India deepen cooperation on AI, digital transformation and innovation.

We also cover new research on AI media coverage in Kenya and South Africa; and IBM’s 2026 Tech Leader Study, which surveyed 2,000 CIOs and CTOs across 33 geographies, including the Middle East and Africa.

Scroll down for more news.

Thanks for reading!

/Carrington

Agentic AI

MEA CIOs forecast world’s fastest AI agent growth

#MiddleEast #agenticAI - IBM’s 2026 Tech Leader Study finds top CIOs and CTOs in the Middle East and Africa expect AI agent numbers to grow by up to 87 per cent between 2026 and 2027, the highest rate globally. Yet only 11 per cent of technology leaders worldwide feel fully prepared, while 77 per cent say AI adoption is outpacing governance capabilities. (Middle East AI News)

Policy

Libya launches national AI strategy

#Libya #AIstrategy – Libya has launched its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2026–2030, outlining 35 initiatives across six pillars, and adopted an AI Ethics Charter. Targets under the strategy include enabling 80% of government entities to use AI, training 10,000 public employees, supporting 100 AI startups, automating 50% of government transactions and digitising 70% of paper records by 2030. (Africa AI News)

Rwanda creates dedicated National AI Agency

#Rwanda #AIstrategy – Rwanda has approved the establishment of a National Artificial Intelligence Agency, becoming the first African country with a standalone institution dedicated solely to AI. The agency will oversee AI governance, research, ethics, skills development and industry growth, building on the country’s pioneering 2023 National AI Policy. (Africa AI News)

Côte d’Ivoire unveils digital roadmap with 40 projects

#CôtedIvoire #digitaltransformation – Côte d’Ivoire has outlined a new digital strategy through 2035 centred on seven pillars and around 40 flagship projects, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and digital skills. The government expects the digital sector to contribute 15% of GDP by 2030, up from about 6% today. (Ecofin Agency)

South Africa and India deepen AI and investment ties

#SouthAfrica #Innovation – South Africa and India have agreed to strengthen cooperation in artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, renewable energy and skills development as part of a broader strategic partnership. High-level talks also focused on trade, investment, digital transformation, infrastructure development and support for small businesses. (Business Insider Africa)

Côte d’Ivoire unveils 40-project digital roadmap to 2035

#CôtedIvoire #strategy – Côte d’Ivoire has unveiled a new digital strategy through 2035 built around seven pillars and around 40 flagship projects spanning artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, e-government and digital skills. The government expects the digital sector to contribute about 15% of GDP by 2030, up from roughly 6% today. (Ecofin Agency)

Mauritania, World Bank expand digital programme

#Mauritania #aid – Mauritania and the World Bank have agreed to expand the West Africa Regional Digital Integration Program (WARDIP) to include artificial intelligence infrastructure, skills development and AI deployment across key sectors. The initiative builds on Mauritania’s $60 million WARDIP programme and reflects the country’s growing focus on AI-enabled digital transformation. (Ecofin Agency)

Portugal offers AI and digital transformation support to Mozambique

#Mozambique #bilaterals – Portugal has pledged to support Mozambique’s digital transformation and AI development by sharing expertise in public sector digitalisation, technology investment and AI governance. The collaboration aims to modernise public services, strengthen the tech ecosystem and attract FDI under a broader bilateral cooperation framework. (Plataforma Media)

Startups

Yamify secures funding to expand Africa AI infrastructure

#DRC #infrastructure – Congolese startup Yamify has secured pre-seed funding from Launch Africa Ventures to expand its developer-first AI infrastructure platform. Founded by former TikTok and Salesforce engineer Luc Okalobé, the company enables users to deploy GPU-powered AI tools in under a minute using African data centres, with early traction across Lagos, Kinshasa, Brazzaville, Johannesburg and San Francisco. (Tech In Africa)

Edafa acquires two Egyptian AI startups

#Egypt #startups - Saudi-Egyptian investor Edafa Venture Capital has completed six-figure acquisitions of Egyptian construction technology firm Kuadra and health-tech platform IRRI Vision. The deals strengthen regional innovation efforts and reflect growing momentum in Egypt’s ecosystem for artificial intelligence-driven industry and healthcare solutions. (Middle East AI News)

Egypt launches startup initiative for smarter public services

#Egypt #accelerators - Egypt’s Ministry of Finance has launched an initiative to work with startups on smart public services, including the use of artificial intelligence to simplify tax procedures and reduce administrative burdens. The ministry is also strengthening cybersecurity, developing digital tax and customs systems, and preparing a mobile app for real estate tax services. (Daily News Egypt)

Banking

Nigeria’s central bank launches AI fraud detection system

#Nigeria #FinTech – The Central Bank of Nigeria is introducing an AI and machine learning-powered system to detect financial fraud in real time as part of its Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028. The initiative targets a 70% reduction in fraud losses by 2028 and will require regulated institutions to adopt AI-based compliance and reporting systems within three years. (TechAfrica News)

South African firms warned they are lagging on AI adoption

#SouthAfrica #adoption – South African businesses risk falling behind in the AI era, according to commentary in The Star, which notes that fewer than 30% of local companies have a formal AI strategy despite 77% of organisations globally already using or exploring the technology. The article calls for more urgent corporate action and workforce preparedness. (The Star)

Telecom

MTN targets R30bn in AI-driven value creation

#SouthAfrica #telecom – MTN Group is targeting R30-billion in AI-driven value creation over the next three to five years, with around half expected from operational efficiencies. Its NBx 2.0 personalisation platform already serves 44 million customers across six markets, while AI is also being deployed for SIM registration, fraud detection and enterprise computing services. (TechCentral)

Healthcare

Malawi hospitals use AI to help reduce child mortality

#Malawi #hospitals – Hospitals in Malawi are using the AI-powered IMPALA monitoring system to detect early signs of patient deterioration and improve paediatric care. The technology has been associated with a 40%–51% reduction in child deaths across two hospitals and is now deployed in more than 20 hospitals in Malawi and over 50 across sub-Saharan Africa. (El País)

GenAI

Chinese AI models power Africa’s local language innovation

#Africa #LLMs – African AI researcher Shikoh Gitau says Chinese open-source models are becoming the preferred foundation for African language AI development, with developers citing lower costs, faster training and open availability. Uganda’s Sunflower LLM, built on Alibaba’s Qwen 3, supports 31 Ugandan languages, reflecting China’s growing influence in Africa’s AI ecosystem. (Foreign Policy)

Education

Ethiopia surpasses 5 million coders target ahead of schedule

#Ethiopia #coding – Ethiopia has exceeded its 5 Million Ethiopian Coders Initiative target ahead of schedule, recording 5,005,146 enrolments in programming, data analysis, Android development and AI fundamentals since July 2024. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has now set a new goal of reaching 7 million enrolments by August 2026 as part of the country’s digital transformation agenda. (ENA)

Sèmè City and Sorbonne University seal AI partnership

#Benin #education – The Sèmè City Institute of Technology and Innovation and Sorbonne University have formalised a cooperation agreement focused on AI, materials science and innovation management. Building on collaboration since 2021, the partnership has already produced accredited programmes, four editions of a materials summer school and AI training for finance professionals. (Benin Web TV)

Gambian researcher launches AI-powered student guidance platform

#Gambia #counselling – Gambian-born scientist Dr Bubacarr J.B. Touray has launched Seedmap, an AI-powered academic counselling platform designed to support immigrant and first-generation students. The service combines human guidance with AI-generated student profiles and career mapping, offering its founding programme at an introductory price of $800 across 59 career pathways. (The Alkamba Times)

Makerere charts course for responsible AI in research

#Uganda #reseach– Makerere University has reaffirmed its commitment to responsible AI adoption in research management, highlighting opportunities to improve research administration, scholarly communication and innovation while safeguarding academic integrity. A university webinar brought together researchers, students and international experts to discuss AI governance, ethics, policy development and digital capacity building. (Makerere University News)

Juba’s all-female AI bootcamp showcases local innovation

#SouthSudan #skills – Seventeen young women in Juba have completed South Sudan’s first all-female AI App Development Bootcamp, developing AI-powered solutions for healthcare, agriculture, education and career guidance. Organised through the National Communication Authority’s BiLLDD initiative, the programme demonstrates growing local innovation despite significant infrastructure and connectivity challenges. (Andariya)

Defence

Kenya Defence Forces completes first basic AI course

#Kenya #defence – The Kenya Defence Forces has completed its first Service Members Basic Artificial Intelligence Course, delivered through the Defence Intelligence Academy and Moran AI and Cyber Centre of Excellence with support from Action Lab. The programme aims to build AI capabilities and strengthen KDF’s long-term technological readiness and operational effectiveness. (Kenya Ministry of Defence)

Sentiment

Study finds AI coverage in Kenya and South Africa falls short

#Africa #sedia – A new Centre for Information Integrity in Africa study, supported by DW Akademie, analysed 57 articles and journalist interviews from 2021-2026, finding AI reporting in Kenya and South Africa remains reactive and siloed. The report calls for dedicated funding, training and cross-border collaboration to strengthen African AI journalism. (DW Akademie)

[ This newsletter was both AI edited & human edited ]

#Libya #AIstrategy – Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbaiba of the Government of National Unity has announced the adoption of an Artificial Intelligence Ethics Charter and launched the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2026–2030. Unveiled at an official ceremony in Tripoli last week, the strategy sets out 35 initiatives across six pillars: governance, legislation and ethics, infrastructure and data, human capital, innovation and priority sectors, and monitoring and evaluation. Key targets under the strategy include enabling 80 percent of government entities to use AI solutions, training 10,000 employees in advanced technology fields, supporting 100 AI startups, automating 50 percent of government transactions, and digitising 70 percent of paper records by 2030.

SO WHAT? – Libya is entering the national AI strategy landscape at a moment when a growing number of African nations are racing to establish governance frameworks and digital transformation plans for AI. For a country such as Libya, with a complex political environment, the adoption of both a strategy and an ethics charter simultaneously is a significant signal of intent. To its credit, the government is frank about its starting point, acknowledging the absence of a unified national AI body, legislative fragmentation, limited data availability, and skills shortages. The new strategy sets out a structured, phased path to address each of these gaps.

KEY POINTS:

• Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbaiba launched the National AI Strategy 2026–2030 and adopted an AI Ethics Charter at an official ceremony in Tripoli on 1 June 2026, overseen by the recently appointed Minister of State for Digital Economy and Artificial Intelligence Ziad al-Hajjaji. The strategy represents Libya’s first comprehensive national framework for AI-led digital transformation.

• The strategy is built around six pillars, covering institutional design through to citizen-facing service delivery and measurement:

  • governance and leadership;

  • legislation and ethics;

  • infrastructure and data;

  • human capital and education;

  • innovation and priority sectors; and

  • monitoring and evaluation.

• Meanwhile, The Ethics Charter places human beings at the centre of the AI process, explicitly stating that AI systems are tools to support human decision-making rather than replace it. This issue is becoming particularly sensitive sectors such as health, justice and security. The ethics charter commits to justice, transparency, accountability and protection of digital sovereignty.

• Key quantitative targets by 2030 include:

  • enabling 80% of government entities to use AI solutions;

  • activating national digital identity for 70% of the population;

  • training 10,000 government employees in advanced technology fields;

  • supporting 100 AI startups;

  • automating 50% of government transactions; and

  • converting 70% of paper records to digital systems.

• Priority sectors for early AI deployment include health, financial services, education and public services, with pilot projects planned before expansion to national security and energy. Specific initiatives identified in the strategy document include AI-powered early disease diagnosis for diabetes and cancer, personalised learning platforms for students, and AI models for fraud and money laundering detection.

• Infrastructure initiatives include a Libya Sovereign Cloud planned for launch between 2026 and 2027, a Unified National Digital ID system by 2027, and a National Data Exchange Platform by 2028. A key principle running through the infrastructure pillar is data decoupling: separating data from legacy applications to enable future flexibility.

• The government plans to build governance structures from scratch. A National Artificial Intelligence Authority is planned under the Cabinet, alongside appointment of a Chief AI Officer and establishment of an Executive Office for AI Initiatives within the Ministry of Planning. In addition, a National Ethics Committee for AI is scheduled for 2027.

• Human capital development is a central pillar of the new strategy, with plans to launch a National Academy for Artificial Intelligence by 2028, integrate AI and digital ethics into school and university curricula by 2027, and establish national AI incubators for startups. The strategy also commits to providing scholarships and specialised AI training.

• The National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2026–2030 is explicit about the challenges it must overcome, citing the absence of a unified national AI body, legislative fragmentation, limited availability of high-quality data, and shortages in specialised skills as the primary weaknesses it is designed to address.

ZOOM OUT - 2026 has already proved to be a busy year for African AI policymaking. This year has already seen Ghana, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique and Zimbabwe launch national AI strategies, while the sharing of South Africa’s draft National AI Policy has stirred intense debate. These new launches follow strategies already put in place by Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria Rwanda, Senegal, Tunisia and Zambia. So, the Libyan National Artificial Intelligence Strategy is by no means one of the first to be announced in Africa, but most African strategies in place remain quite new and in their first phases. The Libyan government deserves credit for prioritising AI and setting national goals to capitalise on the opportunities and guard against the risks of the technologies.

[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]

Source: GIA, LANA

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Libya National Ai Strategy (February 2026) - Arabic

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Read more about African national AI strategies:

• Rwanda creates dedicated National AI Agency (Africa AI News)

• Zimbabwe unpacks national AI strategy (Africa AI News)

• Mozambique presents draft AI Strategy (Africa AI News)

• Ghana launches AI strategy (Africa AI News)

• Mauritius launches new National AI Strategy (Africa AI News)

#Rwanda #policy – Rwanda has approved the establishment of a National Artificial Intelligence Agency as the country’s first institution dedicated entirely to AI, following a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame on Monday (June 8th). The agency will oversee AI deployment, governance, research, skills development, ethics, industry growth and international partnerships. The new body takes over responsibilities previously held by a the AI Office within the Ministry of ICT and Innovation. The formation of the new agency is could prove to be a significant upgrade in Rwanda’s commitment to the national AI policy and governance.

SO WHAT? – In April 2023, Rwanda became the first African country to adopt a comprehensive national AI policy. This move elevates that commitment further, giving AI its own standalone institution rather than embedding governance within the ICT ministry. For other African governments watching, Rwanda is once again setting a benchmark, not by driving the adoption of AI blindly, but by building the governance architecture able to manage AI at national scale.

KEY POINTS:

• Rwanda’s Cabinet has approved the formation of the National Artificial Intelligence Agency in a meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame this week. It is Rwanda’s first institution dedicated solely to AI, replacing the responsibilities of the Ministry of ICT and Innovation’s AI Office that was set-up in 2023.

• The agency’s mandate spans the full AI lifecycle, from development and innovation through to adoption, investment and governance.

• Rwanda is the first African country to have a standalone national AI agency, building on its tatus as the first nation on the continent to adopt a comprehensive national AI policy. The 2023 policy was developed jointly by the Ministry of ICT and the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA).

• The agency will centralise Rwanda’s AI efforts to improve coordination, attract talent and investment, and accelerate deployment of advanced technology.

• Rwanda’s National AI Policy sets out an ethical and inclusive framework covering beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, justice and transparency. It articulates that all AI systems must comply with Rwanda’s Data Protection and Privacy Law, and that RURA can take action against those that breach ethical AI guidelines.

• The country’s existing governance ecosystem provides a good foundation for the new agency. Key institutions involved in regulation and governance related to the AI policy include the RURA, the National Cyber Security Authority, and the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Rwanda.

ZOOM OUT – Rwanda’s new National AI Agency has firm foundations to build on. The country’s 2023 National AI Policy sets out an ethical framework built around five core principles: beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, justice and explicability. The policy also established sector-specific implementation guidelines across healthcare, agriculture, education, financial services and transportation, and identifies public-private partnerships as a means to mobilise resources. In addition, the principles outlined in the national AI policy are enforceable through Rwanda’s existing data protection law. So, the new agency now inherits that framework and the mandate to scale it.

[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]

Source: Government of Rwanda, various sources

Read more recent AI news from Rwanda:

• New foundation launches to close Africa’s AI skills gap (Africa AI News)

First? Why the flash BMW pic? Because it’s a chance to AI generate a cool picture for the story about BMW South Africa being their global AI manufacturing tech lead.

Busy week for policy, with Zimbabwe (AfricaAINews.com deep dive here) unveiling its national AI strategy, and South Africa sets target date for the final version of its AI Policy. At the same time, some smaller economies seem to be getting traction with their forward planning, with Mali, Botswana and Cote d’Ivoire announcing initiatives.

A slightly worrisome story is our last story this week, where the Nigerian military is planning to spend big on AI capabilities, for intelligence gathering as well as on the battlefield. There is growing concern that defence technology companies (private and state) are using developing countries with less robust checks and balances as R&D opportunities.

On with this week’s issue.

/Roger

Policy

Zimbabwe launches national AI strategy

#Zimbabwe #AIstrategy — Zimbabwe has unveiled its National AI Strategy 2026–2030, a five-year roadmap designed to drive inclusive growth, digital sovereignty and innovation across sectors including agriculture, mining, healthcare and education. Developed with UNESCO support, the strategy emphasises AI skills development, national compute infrastructure, ethical governance and Ubuntu-based principles, positioning Zimbabwe as a regional hub for AI-driven development. (Africa AI News)

South Africa sets 2027 target for revised AI policy

#SouthAfrica #AIpolicy — South Africa’s Department of Communications and Digital Technologies aims to release a revised national AI policy for public comment by January 2027 after withdrawing an earlier draft that contained fictitious references. Minister Solly Malatsi has appointed a seven-member expert panel to review the document, with Cabinet consideration expected by November 2026. (Reuters)

Botswana advances national AI development agenda

#Botswana #AIadoption — Botswana has outlined new steps to strengthen AI adoption and digital transformation, highlighting government efforts to build local skills, improve digital infrastructure and encourage innovation across key sectors. Officials emphasised the importance of responsible AI deployment, capacity building and collaboration between government, academia and industry. (DailyNews Botswana)

Pan-African project focuses on AI governance

#Africa #governance — Members of the Media Rights Agenda consortium have launched the Pan-Africanism Project on AI Governance to promote inclusive and rights-based approaches to AI regulation. The initiative will support research, advocacy and policy engagement across multiple countries, focusing on transparency, accountability and the protection of digital rights. (IFEX)

Tanzania warns against misuse of AI tools

#Tanzania #governance — Tanzania’s government has instructed institutions to take action against negligent supervisors while also cautioning officials about the misuse of AI technologies. Authorities stressed the need for accountability, ethical technology use and stronger oversight in workplaces and educational environments as digital tools become more widely adopted. (Daily News Tanzania)

Data Centres and COEs

Oman to invest in Rwanda AI-ready data centre

#Rwanda #Oman #datacentres — Broadband Systems Corporation and Oman Data Park (now Otech) have signed an agreement to jointly invest in an AI-ready Tier III data centre in Kigali. The project will strengthen cloud, data processing and digital infrastructure capabilities while supporting Rwanda’s wider technology transformation ambitions. (TechAfrica News)

Funding

Efham.ai raises funding to expand Arabic AI learning

#Egypt #edtech - Egypt-based NixAI has secured investment from Foras.AI for its Efham.ai platform, which aims to build the first Arabic-language community focused on AI education. Efham.ai plans to launch more than 100 training lessons by the end of Q3 2026 across key Arab markets. (Wamda)

Morocco partners with Orange to boost AI plans

#Morocco #applications — Morocco has signed a strategic partnership with Orange to accelerate AI adoption and digital innovation. The agreement will support the development of advanced digital services, skills programmes and technology infrastructure, reinforcing Morocco’s ambitions to become a regional hub for emerging technologies and digital transformation. (Morocco World News)

Economy

Egypt targets $6 billion in outsourcing exports

#Egypt #economy — Egypt is targeting $6 billion in outsourcing exports this year as it expands its digital economy strategy. The government is advancing technology zones, mobile phone manufacturing, data centre investment and AI-ready infrastructure to strengthen its global services position. (Daily News Egypt)

Egypt seeks deeper Korea technology ties

#Egypt #investment - Egypt is expanding cooperation with South Korea on digital transformation, industrial development and emerging technologies. Discussions between Egyptian officials and the Export-Import Bank of Korea focused on investment, development financing and expertise to support Egypt’s Vision 2030 objectives. (Ahram Online)

Education

Mali launches AI and robotics forum

#Mali #education — Mali has launched a national AI and robotics forum aimed at addressing youth unemployment through technology-driven skills development and entrepreneurship. The initiative brings together government, academia and industry stakeholders to explore how emerging technologies can create new economic opportunities and strengthen workforce readiness. (AI Assemblage)

Côte d’Ivoire plans AI-focused university

#CotedIvoire #education — Côte d’Ivoire plans to establish a university dedicated to AI as part of efforts to build advanced digital skills and strengthen innovation capacity. The institution is expected to support research, specialist training and talent development, helping prepare a new generation of technology professionals for the digital economy. (Powers of Africa)

Applications

BMW South Africa exports factory AI worldwide

#SouthAfrica #automotive — BMW Group’s Pretoria IT Hub has become a key source of AI systems now used across the company’s global manufacturing network. Established in 2006, the hub develops AI, finance and SAP applications and is the automaker’s largest IT operation outside Germany. The facility supports BMW’s digital transformation, supporting production, software development and AI deployment worldwide. (TechCentral)

Ghana launches AI-driven health programme

#Ghana #healthcare — Ghana has launched an AI-driven health programme designed to strengthen healthcare systems and improve patient outcomes while safeguarding ethical standards. Supported by the World Health Organization, the initiative will use AI tools to enhance decision-making, service delivery and health system resilience across the country. (World Health Organization Africa)

Job seekers get AI tools to get hired

#SouthAfrica #employment — Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) alumnus Banele Mgwevu has launched ITSAGO, an AI-powered interview coaching and career preparation platform designed to help graduates improve interview performance, CVs and workplace readiness. The platform offers AI-generated feedback, career coaching and applicant tracking tools. (Tshwane University of Technology)

Defence

Nigeria unveils AI-powered military modernisation

#Nigeria #applications — Nigeria’s Federal Government has unveiled plans to modernise the armed forces through an AI-powered intelligence initiative known as Intelligence Shield. The programme aims to improve surveillance, threat detection and operational decision-making capabilities, supporting broader efforts to strengthen national security through advanced digital technologies. (Military Africa)

[ This newsletter was human conceived and AI gestated ]

#SouthAfrica #banking – South Africa’s Standard Bank Group and Nedbank Group have been ranked among the top four AI-mature banks across the Middle East and Africa in the first regional AI benchmark published by London-based AI research firm Evident Insights Ltd. The Evident AI Index for Banks – Middle East & Africa assessed 25 banks across the MEA region, with Standard Bank placing second and Nedbank fourth overall. Both institutions are distinguished by measurable, production-scale AI deployment, moving well beyond pilots into AI programmes directly tied to commercial outcomes, cost targets and customer engagement metrics. Emirates NBD and First Abu Dhabi Bank from the UAE hold the first and third positions respectively.

SO WHAT? – The Evident AI Index reveals what separates early AI leaders from the rest of the field and in South Africa’s case, the answer is execution discipline and measurable outcomes. Standard Bank and Nedbank are not running AI as a technology showcase, they are embedding it into cross-selling tools, fraud detection, payment processing, customer service automation and revenue generation. They also report the numbers to prove it. That combination of operational integration and transparent reporting is exactly what distinguishes regional AI leaders from peers still running pilots.

KEY POINTS:

• The inaugural Evident AI Index for Banks – Middle East & Africa ranked 25 banks across the region on four pillars: talent, innovation, leadership and transparency. This placed Standard Bank Group second (behind the UAE’s Emirates NBD) and Nedbank Group fourth (after First Abu Dhabi Bank).

• Standard Bank Group holds the top position in the Innovation Pillar across all 25 MEA banks assessed, sharing hallmarks with leading global institutions including dedicated AI R&D efforts, active technology patenting and academic partnerships. The bank hosts a recurring Data Science Hackathon at Stellenbosch University, feeding directly into talent recruitment.

• Standard Bank has embedded its AI programme into its 2026–2028 corporate strategy, with AI-enabled cross-selling tools generating 20% improved outcomes on campaigns. Meanwhile, the bank’s B2B recommendation engine SmartNudge achieves a 66% acceptance rate, and conversational AI now handles 65% of all digital queries across its mobile apps.

• Standard Bank operates the largest market footprint in the index, serving nearly 20 million customers across 21 sub-Saharan African countries. This makes consistent and scalable AI deployment a strategic imperative rather than an optional enhancement.

• Nedbank reported 30 advanced AI use cases implemented in 2025, saving approximately 312,000 hours, cutting global payment processing times by around 30%, and generating R186 million in realised benefits (among the most transparent and quantified AI outcome reporting of any bank in the index).

• Nedbank’s conversational AI assistant Enbi is embedded across digital banking journeys and within one year of launch cut live-agent chats by more than half, freeing contact centre staff for more complex customer interactions. Enbi recognises local terminology including South African expressions such as “Send-iMali.”

• South Africa accounts for the highest AI talent density in MEA banking, with AI development staff representing 0.95% of the overall employee base,nearly double the MEA regional average of 0.49% and broadly in line with the global benchmark of 0.90%. Standard Bank and FirstRand together account for roughly a third of all AI-specific roles across the entire 25-bank index.

• Nedbank’s AI Academy equips non-technical staff with data and analytics skills, while the bank also extends GenAI training to senior executives — placing it among only eight banks in the index that ensure AI literacy at both operational and leadership levels.

• South Africa’s AI talent ecosystem is anchored by strong STEM research universities including Stellenbosch and the University of Cape Town, alongside local AI startups such as Lelapa AI, which is developing AI tools and algorithms tailored to African languages and contexts.

• The four MEA index leaders share a common profile: years of prior investment in cloud-native architecture, centralised data environments and digital channel adoption — providing the technological foundation that now allows AI to be operationalised at scale rather than confined to isolated pilots.

ZOOM OUT - The Evident AI Index arrives at a pivotal moment for banking across the Middle East and Africa, where AI offers institutions an opportunity to accelerate decades of digital transformation within a much shorter timeframe. Backed by government-led AI strategies, growing fintech ecosystems and infrastructure investment, banks are increasingly deploying AI across customer onboarding, engagement and risk management. However, the region still faces challenges around access to advanced computing infrastructure, AI talent and localised models tailored to Arabic and regional markets. The report suggests that MEA banks that move early to secure talent, partnerships and scalable AI capabilities could establish lasting competitive advantages.

[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]

Source: Evident Insights

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Evident AI Index - Banks MEA (Key Findings, June 2026)

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#Zimbabwe #AIStrategy – Zimbabwe’s Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services has unpacked the Zimbabwe National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2026–2030 and launched the AI Grand Challenge at an event in Harare this week. The Minister of ICT Hon. Tatenda Mavetera called for practical, inclusive AI solutions addressing the country’s most pressing development priorities. The minister chose her examples carefully, mentioning AI to support healthcare access for rural mothers, financial tools for market traders, climate-smart resources for farmers, and improved educational outcomes for children. Designed as an annual competition, the AI Grand Challenge invites innovators to develop AI solutions to national problems, with the first challenge focused on food security.

SO WHAT? – This week's event marks another step forward following the strategy launch by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in March, which set out the country's ambitious vision to transform from a resource-dependent economy into a knowledge-driven one. This week's event unpacked some of of the strategy's detail and launched one of its first programmes: the AI Grand Challenge. For a country still building its digital foundations, anchoring the strategy’s launch with a mechanism for young innovators to contribute to the national effort is a smarter activation than simply establishing policy. Whilst it is true that Zimbabwe competes a neighbour whose economy is eight times its size, smaller countries can often move faster with national technology initiatives than larger ones.

KEY POINTS:

• Zimbabwe’s National AI Strategy 2026–2030 was unpacked at a public event in Harare, held under the theme “AI for Impact” and addressed by Minister of ICT Hon. Tatenda Mavetera, who challenged innovators, technology leaders and young entrepreneurs to develop AI that delivers meaningful results rather than theoretical sophistication.

• The event saw the launch of the AI Grand Challenge, an annual competition inviting young innovators to develop solutions to pressing national problems. The first challenge focuses on food security, a critical priority for a country that has faced repeated agricultural shocks.

• The strategy was approved by Cabinet in October 2025 and launched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa at event in March 2026. The strategy prioritises economic transformation through AI across agriculture, mining, healthcare, finance and education, with an ambition to position Zimbabwe as Southern Africa’s leading hub for inclusive and sustainable AI development.

• The National AI Strategy has six pillars: AI talent and capacity development; national AI infrastructure and computational sovereignty; AI adoption and service transformation; governance, ethics and regulation; research, development and innovation; and international collaboration and diplomacy.

• Project Pangolin, a national AI and data platform, will provide secure, sovereign computing infrastructure and national datasets. The platform aims to give Zimbabwean researchers and developers access to the computational resources needed to build locally relevant AI solutions, limiting dependence on foreign platforms and datasets.

• The Mugove/Umqele/Isabelo Fund is a national AI and innovation fund designed to co-invest government capital alongside private investors in certified AI startups, with the goal of accelerating a domestic AI industry from within.

• The Innovation Crucible, a national AI regulatory sandbox, will allow startups to test AI products under temporary regulatory flexibility. The first cohort is expected to include five to seven fintech and telecoms companies.

• Nzwisiso.ai, a national AI literacy campaign, has been set the ambitious target of reaching 60% of Zimbabwe’s adult population by 2030.

• The government has set out three phases of implementation: a 100-day foundation-building sprint in early 2026; an 18-month build phase to deliver core infrastructure and launch key programmes; and a scaling phase running through to 2030, focused on sector-wide adoption and regional leadership.

• The newly established National AI Council and an AI Strategy Implementation Office will be responsible for governance of the strategy implementation. These entities will be supported by technical working groups and a monitoring and evaluation framework tracking AI literacy rates, infrastructure capacity and public trust.

AI GRAND CHALLENGE - This week the government launched an annual national competition inviting schoolchildren, university students, researchers, startups, entrepreneurs and other stakeholder to develop AI solutions to Zimbabwe's most pressing problems. The AI Grand Challenge aims to tackle issues from boosting maize yields, to reducing child mortality, to building AI-powered disaster early warning systems, and creating applications in Shona (Karanga) and Ndebele languages. Winners stand to receive funding, platform access, pilot contracts and international exposure. Meanwhile, all participants will benefit from mentorship, AI training and access to national datasets. The first challenge, which targets food security, has already gained traction with over 50 qualified teams registering. The goal for the winning AI solution is for it to reach 25 percent of its targeted population of farmers in the country.

[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]

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Zimbabwe National AI Strategy 2026–2030 (June 2026)

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Read our March 2026 article about the draft national strategy:

• Zimbabwe to put AI at the heart of its economy (Africa AI News)

It also gives us a gap to publish the Africa AI News analysis of the South African Draft AI Policy. This document was withdrawn and placed before an august panel of experts for a rethink, led by Wits University’s Professor Benjamin Rothman.

This is definitely a good thing — the original draft was not a bad document, but showed a terrible amount of AI-boosterism groupthink, and a worrying lack of scepticism about the global AI industry and AI technology itself.

This gives South Africa (and other African governments that are watching closely), a chance to make this policy more grounded in reality — reality about the tech, and reality about AI’s actual impact on people and businesses — when it works too well, and when it works very badly.

Read our Deep Dive into the policy here — with easy to digest bite-size chunks.

The Magnifica Humanitas encyclical by the Pope Leo has come at a crucial time … as noted by African commentators, this position paper by the Catholic church looks to define AI as a tool (“talent”) to be used by people, not as autonomous technologies to usurp or supplant them.

Certainly the encyclical is enraging much of the Trump administration, a dutiful water-carrier for Big Tech.

The common thread emerging all over is that AI is an incredible tool of analysis, productivity and automation WHEN DONE UNDER HUMAN CONTROL (the “Human in the Middle” or HITM doctrine), and that cost-benefit thinking needs to be re-established.

On with this week’s issue.

/Roger

Policy

Algeria advances national AI & Dzair rollout plans

#Algeria #policy #digitalgovernment — Algeria’s government has reviewed implementation progress on its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy while advancing deployment of the Dzair Digital Services portal. The platform has completed cybersecurity testing and pilot programmes ahead of launch with 52 digital public services supporting the country’s wider digital transformation agenda. (Middle East AI News)

Mozambique presents draft AI strategy

#Mozambique #policy — Mozambique has presented its draft National AI Strategy at an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) workshop in Kenya, signalling progress towards a national framework for AI governance. The National Institute of Information and Communication Technologies said the strategy is in its final drafting phase, with public consultations underway before submission to the Council of Ministers. (Africa AI News)

Africa’s top tech economies rely on US Big Tech

#Africa #policy — Africa’s four largest technology economies — South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt — have acknowledged heavy dependence on American technology firms in their national AI strategies. Policymakers are pursuing AI sovereignty ambitions but continue to rely on foreign Cloud infrastructure and foundational models, showing the limits in local digital capacity. (iAfrica)

Kenya judiciary plans AI policy for courts

#Kenya #policy — Kenya’s judiciary is preparing an AI Adoption Policy Framework to guide the use of AI in courts and legal practice following concerns over bot-generated filings. Chief Justice Martha Koome said the framework aims to support responsible use while preserving judicial integrity after several cases raised questions about fabricated citations and machine-generated pleadings. (Nation Africa (paywall))

Applications

Tunisia deploys AI for customs screening

#Tunisia #applications #policy — Tunisia Customs has integrated AI into its national cargo screening and risk management system to improve fraud detection and speed up inspections. The machine learning-based platform analyses customs data to identify high-risk transactions. 4,000 customs cases involved seizing of goods worth more than $17m just in the first quarter of 2026. (TechAfrica News)

Zanzibar launches AI drones for malaria fight

#Tanzania #applications #health — Zanzibar has launched an AI-powered drone initiative to strengthen malaria elimination efforts by identifying mosquito breeding sites and improving larval control. Backed by the government of Japan through SORA Technology, the programme will pilot bio-larviciding in selected districts, while training local teams to use digital mapping and drone technologies for disease vector management. (World Health Organization)

Morocco beauty sector adopts AI tools

#Morocco #applications #beauty — Morocco’s beauty industry is increasingly integrating AI-powered skin analysis technologies to deliver more personalised treatments. The Cosmetista Expo North and West Africa in Casablanca saw demonstrations of tools capable of assessing skin conditions within seconds. (The Voice of Africa)

Mozambique tourism agency turns to AI

#Mozambique #applications #tourism — Mozambique’s newly created National Agency for Tourism Development and Investment (Anditur) plans to use AI tools to attract more international visitors and strengthen destination marketing. The agency aims to improve targeting and visitor engagement as the government pushes tourism as a strategic growth sector. (360 Mozambique)

Funding

Egypt backs semiconductor export growth

#Egypt #funding #semiconductors — Egypt’s Export Development Fund and ITIDA have launched a seven-year incentive programme supporting semiconductor design, embedded systems and electronics exports. The initiative rewards companies based on export growth and job creation, aiming to attract multinational investment and incentivise employment across the technology sector. (Middle East AI News)

DCs and CoEs

Zambia signs deal for national AI datacentre

#Zambia #datacentre #policy — Zambia has signed an agreement with Huawei Technologies and the Smart Zambia Institute to develop a national AI datacentre, aimed at expanding digital infrastructure and government services. It will see 5,000 ICT professionals trained by 2028 through Huawei’s Global Academy. (TechAfrica News)

Egypt targets AI data hub with green energy

#Egypt #datacentres — Egypt is advancing plans to become a global AI data centre hub powered by renewable energy. The Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy is supporting a major international project in the New Administrative Capital, aligned with Egypt’s target of generating 45 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2028. (State Information Service)

[ This newsletter was human salted and AI spiced ]

If you’re short on time, here’s the tldr; version:

• The policy is sound in structure and content, but rooted in three-year old thinking when the narrative then held that AI was an almost magical technology that would replace humans.

• The core of the policy is driven by the assumption that AI can do what it claims - replace humans and operate autonomously

• The policy does not seek to understand or mitigate against the consequences of AI technologies disrupting entire industries, national infrastructure priorities, labour markets and people’s lives now, and later, when it proves to not be capable of doing the job as promised

• The policy takes a long time to get to “Human In the Middle” (HITM), and does not make HITM the core of legislation or regulation, implicitly accepting that AI systems can effectively perform tasks (analysis, automation) as well or better than humans entirely autonomously and without human supervision

• The policy does not consider regulatory capture and undue influence on national policy by powerful technology companies (and the foreign governments that bat for them)

• The policy does make a strong case that where applied correctly, and with a HITM oversight or supervision requirement, AI systems can be incredible productivity and data analysis tools, and provide powerful automation capabilities to improve efficiencies in delivery of services to people (financial, healthcare, food security, etc)

• The policy does not seek to understand and mitigate against damage to industries vulnerable to unfair competition from (in particular) Generative AI technologies. Example: while fine art will be fine, jobbing graphic designers and other creative professionals are seeing their businesses tank as people use Gemini, ChatGPT and similar to DIY certain business services.

Where it all began

To start ... where did this policy come from? It has been years in the making, with a number of very smart and committed people and chatbots working overtime producing various studies, reports, white papers, and finally the draft policy doc.

So to start at the beginning — the 2023 AI National Government Summit Discussion Document. Because this is where the thinking and framing of this draft policy originated, and it shows.

One’s hackles should be raised at the get-go at the inclusion of Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) definition of AI as “a field of computer science that aims to create machines or systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence – tasks involving reasoning, learning, decision-making, or creativity”.

Boston Consulting has a grim track record of intensive background lobbying for its preferred outcomes, and of the clandestine drafting of policies and strategies for friendly officials in some of the most repressive regimes. Active participation of international advisories is a two-edged sword: bleeding-edge thinking underpinned by opaque corporate motivations, undermining public participation and transparency.

But being familiar with this preliminary work is important, as the flaws that make the AI Policy Document so flawed as to be unusable begin here.

Two plus years ago, this was the thinking going into the envisaged policy paper.

This plan envisages to create a better AI future use through the following:

• Creation of policy and regulatory experiments

• A set of positive goals for what South African society requires from AI

• Management of negative AI impacts on society and industry

• Building an understanding of the AI technological possibilities

• Proving certainty to society on this rapidly evolving AI technology through flexibility and accommodation of skills, software, innovations, and applications.

So far, so good. This policy objective is key:

Proving certainty to society on this rapidly evolving AI technology.

“Proving certainty” must be read as a specific objective of the policy, with actions. “Proving certainty” involves looking for, gathering and generating information that can be validated and traced back to its sources for use in credible advice to citizens from government, and as inputs to regulations and legislation .

AI may affect society as a whole and the economy and other areas such as national security, politics, and culture, however the effect on the macroeconomic terrain is on:

• Productivity growth

• Labour market, and

• Industrial concentration

This part is clear — there are many impacts, but the three red-card areas are noted: productivity from the workforce; the very people that make up the workforce; and where they will be working to earn a living, support their families.

The Discussion Document notes a bunch of stuff about governance frameworks, which ends with this:

At a continental level, particularly in Africa, there is a strong emphasis on AI supporting sustainable development goals (SDGs).

So at least in the 2023’s South African AI policy was looking to align with the UN and EU. SDGs are a four letter word in some demihemispheres.

Then things start heading south towards a concerning level of AI-boosterism (also known as “AI-accelerationism”):

AI has the potential to deliver more benefits to humanity than any new technology in the last century. This AI benefit is also matched by great global and human potential harms.

BCG indicates that “governments need to start looking to learning from the AI leaders when it comes to AI implementation. Many governments have begun to implement AI across various small-scale pilots. But they are still limited to experimentation, and few have achieved true AI at scale.”

Again with the BCG? “Any technology in the last century.” That would include everything since say 1900 that has had a genuine, massive and enduring impact on people’s lives. Because that’s what we care about in policy, right? People’s lives? Not, say, shareholder value?

The last hundred years has seen the vacuum cleaner, vacuum tube and washing machine (just squeaked in). We got antibiotics and vaccines. Those were pretty good. Rockets and the Space Age’s gift, satnav. The transistor that allowed cheap home appliances and the information age. The pill. The Internet. That led to some good stuff, eventually.

This bit of a throwaway factoid chart was dropped into the Discussion Document for local colour. It shows startups and how much they raised in 2019 ... one assumes the doc’s authors wanted to show inward capital leading up to 2023 (when this Discussion Document was published), that there was a boom in foreign direct investment.

But if you go to the source, the report says: “March was overwhelmingly a debt month: of the $151m raised, $55m was equity and $96m was debt, meaning nearly two thirds of the month’s total came as debt. ... Exits were also busy in the background: we recorded five of them in March, all values undisclosed.”

Once you get over the size of the dollars being pumped in, the numbers above are actually not encouraging. Money was pouring into African startups. But it was largely debt. This was AI companies in Africa taking up a very big bag of rocks that they would regret carrying should things not work out. Most concerningly was a steady stream of VC exits, so selling the debt they’d bought to a new round of private equity bods, sovereign wealth fund proxies and other moneybags. Was it true investment, or was it a carousel of investment speculations to be ridden to an early cash-out, before the actual startup was actually growing to be worth something.

The bottom line: the naissance of the Discussion Document that led to the Draft AI Policy by the torturous path of departmental policy development, was fundamentally based on the premise that AI is almost magical level of awesome, and would drive massive economic growth and massive social transformation and the only way forward was to ride this bucking bronco to a grand future for humanity, and that there was no downside that made slowing things down or being a little circumspect a heresy only spoken by the tens of thousands of YouTube videos of subject matter experts.

The South Africa Natonal AI Policy — what’s it all about

And then we come to the Draft South African National AI Policy of 2026.

Diving right in.

The Draft SA National AI Policy sets the tone well. It makes it clear that this is a draft policy, and not law or regulations.

Explanatory Note:

Setting a policy agenda for AI is inherently complex, as the technology has an immense range of applications. Because of the broad range of applications and applicability in almost every conceivable sector, a general national policy cannot, and should not, address every aspect of AI. Rather, a national policy’s primary objective is to identify the core principles that guide sectoral approaches.

Note: Sectoral approaches. This is government speak for “addressing named economic sectors”. The key here is policy interventions for specific sectors to help them work better with AI. Not to drive the AI industry.

The Draft National AI Policy is based on the South Africa National Artificial Intelligence Policy Framework of August 2024, the 32 submissions received on this Framework, and consultations with government structures through the Cabinet Cluster process.

The timeline looks almost creakingly slow:

1. Year 1 (2025/26):

a. Finalisation of the National AI Policy

b. Identification and publication of key draft regulatory requirements

necessary to address unacceptable risks

c. Initiate development of National AI Policy Guidelines

2. Year 2 (2026/27):

a. Publish National AI Policy Guidelines

b. Implement key regulatory requirements for high-risk use cases

c. Identify and publish draft regulatory requirements for medium and low risk AI use cases

d. Develop and adopt sectoral AI strategies

e. Commence institutional framework design and funding approach, and secure funding.

3. Year 3 (2027/28)

a. Full implementation of outstanding policy interventions, which may need to be updated to match emerging trends in AI technologies.

But... 2027 is only half a year away. We’re talking about going from a standing start to fully implemented in less time than it takes between Rugby World Cups.

This National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy document reflects our nation’s unwavering commitment to harnessing AI’s transformative power while addressing the specific needs of our society.

Important provisions address fairness, bias mitigation, and data sovereignty, recognizing South Africa’s socio-political landscape and the imperative to redress historical inequalities. The development of AI ombudsperson structures and the establishment of an AI Ethics Board underscore the importance of transparency, accountability, and human-centric AI deployment.

Sidenote: While industry ombuds in SA are reasonably well thought of, they are subject to industry capture, e.g. Short Term Insurance Ombud. So that is a pretty flimsy basket to be putting your regulatory eggs in. Moving on.

The expanded scope of this policy also introduces targeted interventions for capacity building and digital infrastructure enhancement. It outlines comprehensive educational initiatives to integrate AI into primary, secondary, and tertiary education, fostering a robust pipeline of talent to fuel innovation.

Additionally, the document highlights the creation of AI hubs and supercomputing facilities aimed at empowering local startups and small enterprises. These initiatives reflect a strategic shift toward democratizing access to AI technologies, ensuring that economic benefits are widely distributed across sectors and communities.

It is signed: Omega Shelembe, Acting Director General of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, on 9 April, 2026.

So what’s the problem?

Let’s dive right in, and start throwing rocks at the intro.

As a strategic general-purpose technology, AI holds the potential to drive innovation, enhance productivity, and contribute meaningfully to socio-economic development.

This is already problematic. It only looks at the up-side, and only at the up-side aggressively promised by tech vendors and management consultancies. Why is this a major flaw in the policy? Because it sets the entire tenor of the document... that AI is a wonderful wild stallion that just needs to be tamed to become a valuable beast of burden, wise guide and pleasant companion.

The policy goes on and on in this vein: “The rapid advancement of AI technologies globally and their transformative potential” ... but will they be transformative? Will they perhaps be merely useful, a productivity tool to extend our capabilities? What about the very real downsides, where AI is a vast suck of capital, attention and corporate malfeasance that makes it a a ticking time bomb that is actively confounding or destructive for our goals as people?

This is key — because most of the claims made about the powerful benefits are AI relate to productivity and profit growth for corporates. What about people? Will it make them happier? More fulfilled? Put food on the table, clothes on their backs, give them the luxury of art, travel and leisure? Will it educate their children?

Who is AI here to serve?

If South Africa’s AI policy is fundamentally drafted around the needs and wants of private capital, and unrestrained global capital, AI will not create a better future for people (other than shareholders).

Remember how computers and tech introduced in the 50s and 60s would let us work three day weeks, and make goods and services cheaper? And yet today no modern family can survive on a single salary income, both parents work full time. The Internet boom in the 2000s was going to make us more efficient, work faster and more easily, and yet we’re online and available 24x7 even on weekends and holidays, in person in the office, and job security

While the number of hours worked per white-collar salaryman has (formally) been slowly improving at 160-175 hours per week since the 60’s. In fact today we work a lot less hours than the 20s America. they were clocking in 6 days a week, 200 hours. Except... now most middle class families, both parents work full time.

Fully half of all American families have both parents in a household working. There’s no useful stat for South Africa, but Google AI says 40-45%.

Back to the Draft Policy:

However, the pressure to harmonize with international standards and frameworks for ethical AI development and deployment underscores the necessity for robust and adaptive policymaking.

Sure, we need to stop AI systems being evil and terrible. But we also need to stop it being inadequate or useless, or misleading and distracting. Ooh! Shiny!

Policy interventions must bridge the gap between the push of technological advancement and the pull of economic transformation while addressing systemic inequalities. Investments in education, infrastructure, and inclusive governance frameworks will be critical to ensuring that AI not only drives economic growth but also contributes to social equity, sustainable development, and global leadership in ethical AI practices.

Ok, so putting government’s money where its mouths are. Investments in education, infrastructure and inclusive governance sounds like a good idea. The question is how much actual money will be spent, and value created between the three, if governance is already massively underfunded, especially compared to dominant countries (like the EU). A key here is that regulatory governance MUST be complied with, it’s the ticket to the game of international commerce. Will there be enough funding after setting up governance that can hold a candle to US, EU and Chinese regulatory environments, as well as to also build infrastructure, and develop educational materials and delivery?

A significant weakness of the AI policy is its maddening lack of clarity about key terms. What is “infrastructure”, because much of the time it sure sounds like datacentres and maybe also datacentres.

Public funding for high-risk corporate interests

Gargantuan datacentres are a cost of business of LLM operators, other AI technologies not so much. Datacentre build being funded from the public purse is a bum deal unless the access to it by the country’s researchers, startups, people is priced as a public good. It is not any governments business to be funding Azure’s datacentre build.

It’s imperative this AI Policy be very very clear what “infrastructure” means. Because if it’s datacentres, they will almost certain to be money-pits, when they’re not also actively damaging to the environment, driving down living standards, consuming vast amounts of often scarce water, putting overwhelming demands on the energy grid and driving up domestic electricity prices for households.

Perhaps the answer to data sovereignty and technology security does not lie in more datacentres, it lies in better data and smarter tools.

Why we need a strong, wise policy

All these are in support of the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic, as well as the accompanying Bill of Rights. As a result, AI must not be used to violate any s9, s10, s12, s14, s15, s16, s17, s18, s19, s21, s22, s23, s24, s27, s28, s29, s30, s31, s32, s33, s35 rights. Instead, AI may be used to advance all these, as well as s11, s13, s20, s25, s26, s34 and any other rights.

Since no one knows what these parts of the South Africa Constitution are, here is a quick reference.

Go for a quick browse of it and then come back.

The Draft Policy mentions what else it’s got in the back of its head:

(The policy) also interfaces with continental and international frameworks such as the African Union (AU)

• Digital Transformation Strategy,

• Continental AI Strategy,

• African Digital Compact,

• Data Policy Framework,

among(st) others. It also considers

• the Smart Africa AI Blueprint

• OECD AI Principles, and

• UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of AI,

among(st sic) others. ... and the integration of insights from the PC4IR Report.

No, I haven’t read them. They’re linked so you can.

Right. Now we address the elephant in the room, the fundamental flaw in this Draft Policy Document.

AI is many things. Pick one.

The key to any policy, regulation, or law, is definition:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a multidisciplinary field that integrates principles from computer science, engineering, philosophy, psychology, mathematics, neuroscience, linguistics, and biology.¹ Its primary goal is to develop intelligent agents capable of learning, modelling data, making predictions, and either autonomously making decisions or assisting humans in decision-making. While AI systems are inspired by human intelligence, they do not replicate it directly. Instead, AI aims to create machines that demonstrate reasoning, perception, learning, and adaptability in various contexts².

OK, so far so good. It goes on with the part where the rubber meets the road. What is AI, really, when you get right down to it?

AI can be defined as the combination of artificial (indicating non-natural) and intelligence (the ability to reason, perceive, learn, and generate insights).

And boom, there we have it. The Policy’s definition misses the one key aspect that makes intelligence intelligence, and not “really fast thinking”. The missing key aspect is:

...to reason, perceive, learn, and generate insights AND SELF CORRECT THROUGH INTUITIVE AND LOGICAL THINKING.

What makes us human, and wise, creative, empathic, resourceful and bold is not just our intelligence. It’s our lived experience, our contextual awareness, ability to evaluate from multiple angles simultaneously and our shared understanding of a common reality of being homo sapiens.

The things that separates us as people from powerful computer systems? Intuition, and self correction. And also learning from our mistakes (however imperfectly).

(Artificial Intelligence) encompasses activities such as speech recognition, problem-solving, planning, and adaptation to different environments.

Sure. AI can be good at the aspects above. Like the baggage handler robot at Japan Airlines. But just watch the video ... would you trust that robot to keep getting it right for more than five minutes unattended? All LLMs suffer the same fate if hit with a little too much novel input. It bombs out, acting erratically or flat out hallucinating (going mad).

The policy doc establishes that Machine Learning is a subset of AI, and arguably includes Neural Networks and decision tree models); and that Deep Learning is a sub-technology of Machine Learning using Artificial Neural Networks. Fine. Goddit.

It even acknowledges: Models like Decision Trees are better where “datasets are small or interpretability is crucial.”

This is really burying the lede once more. While the Draft Policy takes a nod at non-LLM based AI, it’s a very short nod. The only discussion at all of how we interact with AIs is addressed in three throw-away words: “interpretability is crucial”.

When we work with tools, we need to interpret what they are saying to us, how and why. We read a tyre pressure gauge, interpreting the scale, measurement metric and what the needle point means. We look at an income statement, and interpret the categorisation of expenses and revenues, the values of the items and currency they’re in.

LLMs sound like they’re human, and therefore we take them at their word. We do not feel we need to interpret their outputs. We don’t “interpret” because they sound like humans speaking. But we must interpret what an AI tells us. What is the LLM’s design? Where is it’s training data from? What model optimisations does it use? What corporate-driven decisions are in place in terms of guardrails, checks & balances? What are the price-related functionality or performance restrictions? What is its propensity to hallucinate?

There’s a bunch of major factors that radically change the outputs an AI provides, so we must be interpreting what it’s telling us. But we don’t... because they sound human. A major missing factor in the Draft AI Policy is discussion around how AI systems must give us information that allows us to reach an informed understanding of what we’re being told.

Policy vision

Proposed Policy Vision

3.1 Proposed National Vision emanating from the South Africa AI Policy “AI for inclusive economic growth, job creation, cost reduction, and a developing Africa.”

3.2 Critical Sectors for AI Implementation. AI in South Africa will play a key role in the critical areas of:

a. Education

b. Healthcare

c. And Agriculture

d. (With Public Administration implementation as a key lever or tool)

In all these sectors, the deployment of AI relies on robust digital infrastructure and widespread connectivity. A key rationale for establishing this policy is to foster sectoral strategies that address specific needs and opportunities within different industries, such as healthcare, education, security, finance, etc.

So... “we’re going to focus on just these three things, but also all the other things.”

They talk about the policy development framework in terms of:

Social Equity: Ensuring that AI contributes to social equity by addressing disparities and improving access to services is a key goal. AI can help bridge gaps in areas like healthcare, agriculture, education, and economic opportunities, promoting inclusiveness and reducing inequalities.

Sure. It COULD. But autonomous systems in government social programmes has been a series of poster children for broken decision-making. Like just happened in Sweden where kids are expected to fly like the crow to school, and not have to walk across bridges that may or may not exist within school commute walking distance.

The policy says it will “ensure that AI contributes to social equity”. That’s a big promise. How about adding “ensure that AI contributes to social equity, and investigate and remediate where it makes things worse”?

The body of the policy is built around the UNDP “Futures Triangle“ framework: “Policy must be designed to ensure that AI initiatives are inclusive and equitable, addressing historical disparities and promoting broad access to AI benefits”.

There is also a pressing need to protect people from predatory corporate interests, misleading and dishonest claims about capability and costs (financial ,environmental, social), abusive business practices, bad systems that don’t work, good systems used by bad actors, systems given incredible powers over peoples’ lives with little oversight.

Regulating in the face of a laissez faire capitalism lobbying machine

Not mentioned anywhere in this Draft AI Policy is the intense pressure AI companies are putting on everyone to get on board, shouting about boogiemen (”Mythos is TOO powerful to release!”), and promising billion Dollar investments that would at a stroke change entire regional economies. Should they actually land.

This level of back-room co-ordination between powerful government departments and multination corporations (and again the foreign governments that enable them) is not normal. Like the military-industrial complex, the politician-technology complex must be discussed in the Draft Policy.

And in line with the OECD’s human-centred values:

AI actors should respect the rule of law, human rights, democratic and human-centred values throughout the AI system lifecycle.

This also includes addressing misinformation and disinformation amplified by AI, while respecting freedom of expression and other rights and freedoms protected by applicable international law.

Super, this is great to have in the policy doc. Well done, shows you’re thinking.

There is never a policy directive to challenge the narrative of global multinationals. The question “should we integrate AI into...” is always a when, not an if. Does it work? Has it been thoroughly tested? Is it the best way to do what needs to be done? Is this “best” reflecting the interests of people or corporate shareholder value?

4.2 Objectives of the Policy

The policy outlines the following six (06) objectives to address identified challenges:

a. Strengthen AI-related education, research, and skills training through STEAM-focused curricula, public education campaigns, and AI community centres.

b. Use AI in public service delivery, data-driven asset distribution, and startup support through sandboxes and accelerators, as well as for industrial innovativeness and startup development.

c. Establish an AI Ethics Board, National AI Commission / Office, and AI Regulatory Authority (while configuring a harmonized regulatory environment with existing authorities) to oversee and guide AI development, implementation, and compliance.

d. Develop localized ethical standards aligned with international norms, promote fairness, transparency, accountability, and inclusiveness across the AI lifecycle.

e. Use AI tools to digitize and preserve indigenous languages, arts, music, and literature. Leverage AI for real-time language translation in all 12 official languages, while harmonizing with international practices, and

f. Design responsible and human-centred AI tools to address rural development, supplement healthcare, enable public services, and extend education services, especially in indigenous languages.

These objectives are sensible. Get education into top gear, both to skill up people in AI tech, but also to broadly improve basic education, especially in underserved areas. Use it, test it, invest in R&D. Education and skills, find specific applications for specific AI technologies.

Does the SA government have to build DCs or not?

Note that the objectives do not include that government “build or subside the build of AI datacentres” or “invest into private companies”. And this is good. It is not the job of government to roll the dice on multi-billion infrastructure builds when the business case is basically a creative writing exercise by private equity wonks. That money should be spent on ensuring the people get to live their best lives, and within the South African Bill of Rights. The objectives are demonstrably fit for purpose for what the Policy aims to achieve. But give it a few more pages, and the “sink billions into datacentres” starts to pop up, again and again.

What is glaringly absent in the objectives of the Policy, however, is management of risk and consequences of the infrastructure that would be needed to support the objectives, since they require massive application of AI capabilities.

Surely two missing objectives are:

• “Study and develop planning around energy, water and land needs for AI infrastructure whose development is promised in this policy”.

• “Study and develop planning on the impacts of AI systems rollout on current and future telecoms networks and data centre infrastructure already servicing SA’s core compute and comms requirements.

AI systems exist alongside other, proven techs

There is a vast amount of essential compute required for transaction processing systems, data stores and the online services they enable that also need to be cared about. Also telecoms networks, media streaming, and a whole lot of other tech that people no longer want to think about because it’s not new and shiny and AI.

And possibly add a third Policy objective:

• Have clear requirements around proof-of-concept, proof-of-technology and system performance verification to ensure fitness for purpose, predicated and desirable outcomes and ability to roll back if it does not work as expected.

This last point is to enforce on the AI industry and users of it the fundamentals of any responsible technology systems design, planning and implementation. Once a large, complex, expensive system has replaced what has gone before, it can be very hard to dislodge it if there is no roll-back plan.

Key stakeholders involved in the design and rollout of AI policy include:

a. National, provincial, and local government departments.

b. Regulatory bodies.

c. Academic and research institutions.

d. Industry and professional bodies.

e. Civil society and grassroots organizations.

f. International development and governance partners.

This list of stakeholders could be just for window dressing. It feels like it. It is essential that the policy puts in place mechanisms that the legislation and regulation respects all of these stakeholders. From bitter experience of industries that have perfected regulatory capture (oil industry, banking sector, fishing industry(bizarrely enough)), if we do not specifically build respect for vital stakeholders into the enabling legislation, eventually only stakeholders (d) and (f) will be at the driving wheel. In many countries, in many times and placed, (d) will have broadly captured (f) so in effect we’re left with just (d) as referee and player. To be clear, (d) is the large AI tech corporates and their management consultancy handmaidens. And so far they’ve been consistent in only one thing: over-stating what the tech can do, and minimising its failures and limitations.

Who does the work, who pays the bills

Now we’re getting to the meat of the Draft AI Policy. Resourcing.

4.4 Resource Allocations of This Policy – Human, Financial,

Equipment, and Systems

The following are the key resources which this policy seeks to allocate:

a. Human Capital: Expand public-sector (and citizens’) training in AI literacy and governance; embed AI in basic-to-tertiary education; support local AI talent through mentorship and exchange programmes.

b. Financial Resources: Allocate funding for infrastructure (including data centres and supercomputing), startup support, and AI research grants. Create incentives such as tax breaks and subsidies for private-sector collaboration. (Whoa this was explicitly kicked out earlier, how did pouring public funding into corporate-owned infrastructure build get back in -- because “subsidies” and “private sector collaboration” sure sounds like public-funded build.)

c. Equipment and Systems: Invest in AI community hubs, data infrastructure, real-time analytics platforms, and connectivity tools like fibre networks, low-earth orbit satellites*, and affordable devices, as well as energy and regulatory systems.

Quick side-track? * Why on God’s green Earth are LEO satellites repeatedly and explicitly in this document? Expensive, not very fast, high latency connectivity controlled entirely by opaque corporate entities. Why not PTMP microwave, mobile or the freaking Loon network while you’re at it.

Moving on quickly, the “Roles & Responsibilities” section seems sensible.

4.6 Institutional Infrastructure and Arrangements Established

a) National AI Commission and b) Ethics Board, fine, discussed already. But it goes on with these:

c. AI Regulatory Authority: To monitor compliance, perform audits, and issue certifications. Also, to audit AI systems for fairness and to conduct gender and human rights impact assessments.

d. AI Ombudsperson Office: To allow affected individuals to challenge AI-driven decisions and to receive redress.

e. AI Insurance Superfund: Modelled after the Road Accident Fund, to compensate individuals or entities harmed by AI-driven outcomes.

f. National AI Safety Institute: Working in concert with other similar international bodies in advancing the science of AI safety

g. Integrated AI-Powered Monitoring Centre: To monitor as a central nerve-centre towards increasing the efficiency levels of all service delivery (and related) touchpoints in each sector of government and society.

Yoh. So that’s like ten big jobs right there. But give it a crack, maybe it’ll deliver good or even great results where thoroughly resourced and well managed. Ganbatte!

Further, this policy actively repositions the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA) for an AI-driven regulatory future.

Huh. Go on?

ICASA will be increasingly positioned to play a crucial role in ensuring AI systems in its domain operate ethically, transparently, and in compliance with regulatory standards. ICASA’s evolving mandate would include overseeing ethical AI use in telecoms, ICT and broadcasting, ensuring fairness, transparency, and non-discrimination in content recommendation, network management, and advertising. Working in concert with the Information Regulator, ICASA will help ensure AI systems used by network operators and broadcasters align with data protection principles under POPIA.

ICASA is going to need to hire a tonne of really freaking smart people. This is a massive stretch to add to its mandate.

Each regulator will maintain distinct responsibilities: ICASA on AI in digital infrastructure and broadcasting;

What is not clear is whether it means “AI in....” telecommunications and broadcasting systems themselves, or the data traffic caried on them to deliver online services? And is it just the data, or the content, and how does this gybe with the one very key Act not mentioned in the list of relevant legislation: Films and Publications Amendment Act 11 of 2019?

Ethics in AI: abstract where it needs to be grounded

Now the “guiding principles” of these regulators:

5.1 Ethics-First Approach (Prioritizing Ethical AI Development)

5.2 Flexible, Iterative Regulation (Enabling Innovation While Managing Risk)

5.3 Economic-Focused Strategy (Maximizing AI’s Economic Impact)

5.4 Alignment with Global Standards and Partnerships

Moreover, the policy considers the economic risks associated with AI, such as job displacement due to automation.

There is no concern exhibited for any colossal wastes of money spent on AI boondoggles that burn up funding from other projects, and leave a huge mess to mop up. There will definitely be massive disruptions to the information and management systems that may have worked well enough, but had to be improved on, which now have to be returned to service, never mind the damage caused to human people where a large-scale public services oriented implementation fails.

Again the thinking is driven by the central conceit of the AI industry. Danger! Danger! AI might be TOO GOOD!

But what if it sucked? What if the implementation was an embarrassing clusterduck for the implementors, and a catastrophic disaster for the people affected?

AI can lead to massive job displacement ... AND the pain for communities where the stuff the human people used to do is no longer being done, and all you have to console yourself with is a chatbot while you die from untreated medical conditions.

7.1 Performance Reporting and Accountability

7.2 Transparency and Information Dissemination (in this case, the AI system operator’s obligation to be open ... but this section only got a few words with no clear idea of what would give this teeth)

7.3 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategy

Kind of EU AI Act stuff. Sure, fine.

8.3 Evaluation of the Policy

Evaluation will be both formative and summative. It will:

a. Assess whether objectives (e.g., ethical AI use, inclusivity, competitiveness) are being met.

b. Identify unintended consequences or emerging risks.

c. Include independent oversight and peer reviews to uphold objectivity.

d. Identify the patterns of improvement and otherwise, with regard to innovation, economic impact, startup enablement.

e. Include regular human rights and gender impact assessments to evaluate social effects of AI implementations.

Periodic independent certification of high-stakes AI applications will be enforced to ensure that evolving practices align with the policy’s principles of fairness, safety, and transparency.

Cool. How about efficacy, reliability, fitness for purpose? And independent certificators? Who is that? Not one of the various regulators? Or should we expect a new industry of AI safety certificators? Kind of like the cottage industry of energy efficiency practitioners, environmental impact assessment practitioners.

AI Policy: Six Strategic Pillars

The document now gets into the specifics:

This policy is based on six Strategic Pillars (SP).

These are:

1. Capacity and Talent Development

2. AI for Inclusive Growth and Job Creation

3. Responsible Governance

4. Ethical and Inclusive AI

5. Cultural Preservation and International Integration

6. Human-Centred Deployment

Editors note, we changed a, b, c, d, e, f to 1,2,3,4,5,6.

Specifics of these pillars:

Strategic Pillar 1

Education - For successful deployment of AI in education, strategic talent retention measures are required to retain qualified professionals in the country. Skilling programmes must begin early for professionals such as educators, librarians, and researchers.

Master AI Institute: Review the mandate of the Artificial Institute of South Africa and ensure it sufficiently funded and capacitated ... Further, establish an effective creative AI, big data analytics, blockchain, and cybersecurity capacity-building infrastructure (fwiw, SAAII is a gov, UJ, TUT venture)

Strategic Pillar 2

9.1.2 Strategic Building Block 2: Digital Infrastructure

To enable the adoption of AI in South Africa, there is a requirement to establish effective and affordable supercomputing infrastructure.

Eh? AI factory is not supercompute kit. Massively parallel, not massively fast.

Moreover, it is essential to invest in digital connectivity technologies such as 5G, 6G and high-capacity fibre. Priority should be accorded to last-mile connectivity via low earth orbiting satellites to deal with hurdles in non-local digital infrastructure access.

Again with the LEO satellite. Why?

Universal internet access can be addressed by declaring it a socio-economic right.

We need a lawyer to unpack that for us, it feels like a constitutional thing. But anyway, declaring something as a thing doesn’t make it so. This policy intervention directive verges on the magical thinking.

Therefore, investment in domestic infrastructure is also needed, to ensure data sovereignty. Development of shared supercomputing centres such as AI giga-factories facilitates startups and researchers and promotes sector-specific regulation compliance.

So who cuts the cheque for all this? Who manages it, if it’s not private sector? One short sentence with a tonne of implications that are simply walked on by.

Development of secure data repositories promotes safe access to knowledge. Yet there is a need to reduce environmental degradation from the energy demands of data centres. Partner with “international cloud providers and regional supercomputing hubs; and use offshore capabilities and strategic partnerships to mitigate against the possibly negative effects of the high energy demand, and to reduce the strain on local infrastructure.

More of the magical thinking, that we can simultaneously have local infrastructure and data sovereignty, and yet because of the devastating environmental impact, we can leverage global Cloud companies.

This paragraph is worryingly glib and cannot stand. The Draft AI Policy then throws out this little hand grenade, which does not square with what came before.

A contrary view is that reliance on foreign infrastructure compromises the security of sensitive South African data.

The spooks were louder than the tech bros on this one. Sorry Microsoft and Google, you don’t get to make billions of Rands in AI cloud services to the SA Government because national security and sovereignty reasons. Just kidding, of course you can.

Establish Regional AI Factories to enhance AI sovereignty and inclusive innovation throughout South Africa.

Strategic Pillars made of sand

So government is going to be hands off on the actual development and implementation of AI tech, but is also going to simultaneously build a network of gigantic AI-compute datacentres. The policy can’t decide if it’s fish or fowl, and spends the “Strategic PiIlars” section swinging between both. Again and again there is a confusing mixture of the policy calling for AI tech facilitation, partnering, prioritisation of existing projects, governance... and then casually throwing in multi-billion Rand infrastructure build.

Energy Preparedness for the AI Age: Take specific measures to ensure the availability of electricity, water and other environmental resources to power the operation of appropriate levels of compute resources (and provide favourable terms for locally based data centres in the national energy mix). Similarly, ensure the long-term availability of appropriate critical minerals and rare earth resources for the AI age.

This is a huge job, dropped on the plate as an afterthought. Perplexingly then, if energy is such a huge concern, it would appear that the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, and the Department of Energy (the lame duck papier-mâché ministry), are not key stakeholders.

Establish AI community centres and hubs in underserved regions to promote AI literacy and training. Involve local businesses in rural infrastructure development. Create equitable digital access for schools and community centres. Also create collaboration mechanisms between government and private hyperscalers, as well as encourage the development of energy-efficient data centres.

The hyperscalers would love this, seeing all the marketing dollars they’ve ploughed into AI education to a million schoolkids or nurses or librarians.

The last part: “ encourage the development of energy-efficient data centres.” Again with the lede-burying? This is a core priority, right?

Strategic Pillar 2: AI for Inclusive Growth and Job Creation

9.2.1 Strategic Building Block 1: Research, Development, and Innovation

To build a healthy startup culture with AI assistance, extensive research on its technicalities is required. Policy formulation needs to be aimed at highly capable foundation models with regulatory milestones defined to prevent one-size-fits-all policies.

OK good.

South Africa plans to set up and sponsor specialised AI research institutions on top of what already exists, such as the partnerships of national research conducted in basic, specialised, and applied AI research across various universities.

Super. Any thoughts as to budget for this, and who would own it?

9.2.2 Strategic Building Block 2: AI for Startups, MSMEs and Innovation

Aim: To ensure startups and MSMEs effectively leverage AI technologies.

South Africa plans to establish AI accelerators based on successful mentorship and funding schemes such as Singapore’s. The accelerators would assist startups in terms of resources to scale up. The aim is to, where possible, provide equity-free funding, mentorship, and exposure to a network of international experts and investors.

So you’re going to build an entire gov-funded innovation startup factory? For AI? And not for all the other Fourth Industrial Revolution techs? The SA government has so far failed miserable at anything like this. Any and all of the SETAs, the Innovation Fund, SPII, etc.

Government couldn’t even get SA Connect 1 done, never mind SA Connect 2, and that was fully funded with complete delivery capability in place.

Regulatory Sandboxes: Establish AI testing environments for MSMEs and startups, to ensure the testing of AI innovations under regulatory oversight to prevent dominant interests from undermining fairness.

These testing environments would span various sectors and industries, with appropriate cooperation and co-funding mechanisms.

This one is a bit of a head scratcher. Perhaps our readers could unpack what the intention is here.

Non-private/non-regulated data must be treated as a public good

Super ... so companies, local and national government will be forced to make their data open? South Africa is a leader in Open Data pontificating, and dismal failure in Open Data reality.

In the Draft AI Policy interventions (or is it an objective, hard to tell).

AI must also be harnessed to drive industrial transformation, reconfigure supply chains, and support businesses in adapting to the platform economy.

Uh. Sure. Yeah. Surely this should be front and centre? This is what AI is good at automating. It’s the most obvious use-case.

And again the Draft AI Policy mixes fish with fowl. Industrial transformation is almost by definition, you know, industrial. Factories, logistics, materials, energy, machines, design, recipes, methods. So we have industrial (physical world), supply chains (physical world), and toss in the platform economy? Which is almost by definition digital, and consisting of abstract digital services.

9.3 Strategic Pillar 3: Responsible Governance

Mixes cyber-security and (arguably) national security with content moderation (deepfakes, “Defamatory AI” (is that a thing? Sure, I guess.)

Then goes back to cybersecurity.

Protect children from manipulative AI systems. Strengthen the work of the Information Regulator to counter misinformation, disinformation and other harmful online practices. And provide as well as capacitate clear technical and legal recourse against the use of Deepfakes and Defamatory AI.

How about vulnerable adults? But, OK, great.

9.3.2 Strategic Building Block 2: Privacy and Data Protection

To ensure safe cross-border data flows without loss of sovereignty, South Africa will put its National Policy on Data and Cloud into action.

Lots on data transparency (source, sharing, sovereignty, jurisdiction). All good in principle.

9.3.3 Strategic Building Block 3: Professional Responsibility

Develop a clear definition of an AI professional, including whether South Africa should create a dedicated professional body for AI accreditation

Ditto.

9.4 Strategic Pillar 4: Ethical and Inclusive AI

This section is a lot of Ethics stuff. How to actually REGULATE around ethics?

▪ OPTION: principles-based regulation rather than prescriptive rules to ensure agility.

▪ OPTION: guardrails approach because of the prevailing resource-constrained and uncertain environment. Thus, there will be a need to define the boundaries in which technology change can be executed in a manner that is aligned with organisational strategy, risk, architecture, operational and cyber security requirements. (This part feels irrelevant, AI generated, perhaps?)

▪ OPTION: a Just AI approach, explicitly focused on redressing inequalities, with economic justice environmental sustainability being riders

▪ OPTION: The AI policy could lead to the Development of Legislation in sectors where it is appropriate;

A key point that is buried with the recommended legislative approach: at applications, model, and infrastructure levels.

9.5 Strategic Pillar 5: Cultural Preservation and International Integration

Develop AI systems that promote human well-being, equality, and environmental sustainability.

Launch and create a sustained national effort to curate large, diverse datasets in AI-ready formats.

Funded? Encouraged? There are already some of the above, not mentioned or referenced.

9.6 Strategic Pillar 6: Human-Centred Deployment

The AI policy is focused on incorporating human control [Human-in-the-Loop (HITL)] into key decision-making processes of AI, especially in Generative AI.

Through embedding human inputs into every aspect of AI system development, South Africa seeks to develop more transparent, accountable, and ethically sound AI applications.

Decision-making architectures place greater importance on human judgment than AI-generated decisions, particularly in essential government functions where responsibility is essential.

Critical systems should include built-in safety brakes and remain under human control always. Ensure that consumers have the option to engage with humans instead of AI systems where feasible.

This is all good until the last two words. NO! “where feasible” is an absurdly broad get-out-of-jail-card, played because we are not making enough money.

Trust and Acceptance: Users and stakeholders are more likely to trust and accept AI systems, especially in high-stakes applications, such as credit scoring, if they can understand how decisions are made.

Bias Detection and Mitigation: Accountability and ensuring that automated decisions are lawful, fair and challengeable

What about something simple like “AI systems must clearly disclosing the confidence of their outputs based on available training data, relevance, model integrity, etc etc.”. Again the AI industry has and uses all the time the “AI can make mistakes” get-out-of-jail card, and it must stop.

“Fairness” and “Mitigating Bias” is specifically addressed, which is good. But not discussion of how, which is bad.

And finally: going all in anyway:

9.6.3 Strategic Building Block 3: Public Sector Implementation

Aim: To enhance government efficiency through AI.

Nothing about careful benchmarking against early adopters to validate whether the use cases where addressed with AI better than without (and “it costs less than people maybe” is not the only metric).

The ultimate take-home from Africa AI News on the Draft Policy is that the definition used right from the start is wrong, and sends the Policy off on a muddled course that it never recovers from.

Rather take the definition used by the Lawyers Hub in Kenya in its blockbuster AI Governance Report:

It’s good because it describes a behaviour, not a capability. A behaviour can be observed and judged, and rated. A capability is a claim that can be made by people like Sam Altman or Dario Amodei, and is as solidly reliable as the SARS chatbot.

The South African Draft AI Policy is not bad. But it’s not good. It departs from the place where AI tech firms have defined, and never questions it. And that leads to a Policy document that is heavy on magical thinking and taking people at their word that have demonstrated themselves to be un-honest. A basket of corporate deplorables. And that’s not a good basket to put your eggs in.

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Draft South Africa National AI Policy (April 10th, 2026)

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All these are in support of the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic, as well as the accompanying Bill of Rights. As a result, AI must not be used to violate any s9, s10, s12, s14, s15, s16, s17, s18, s19, s21, s22, s23, s24, s27, s28, s29, s30, s31, s32, s33, s35 rights. Instead, AI may be used to advance all these, as well as s11, s13, s20, s25, s26, s34 and any other rights.

ChatGPT condensed each to its operative meaning while preserving constitutional substance. Good job, ChatGPT. For effortlessly summarising something that is fixed, thoroughly discussed and documented and shows little novelty in what’s going on in relation to it, you get full marks, as good or better than most humans.

Section 9 – Equality

* Everyone is equal before the law and entitled to equal protection and benefit of the law.

* Equality includes full and equal enjoyment of all rights.

* Measures to advance previously disadvantaged groups are permitted.

* The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly on grounds including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic/social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language, and birth.

* No person may unfairly discriminate.

Section 10 – Human Dignity

* Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.

Section 12 – Freedom and Security of the Person

* Right not to be deprived of freedom arbitrarily or without just cause.

* Not to be detained without trial.

* To be free from violence, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

* Bodily and psychological integrity, including reproductive decisions and informed consent to medical/scientific experiments.

Section 14 – Privacy

* Right to privacy, including protection against searches of person, home, property, seizure of possessions, and interference with communications.

Section 15 – Freedom of Religion, Belief and Opinion

* Everyone has freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion.

* Religious observances at state institutions may occur if equitable and voluntary.

Section 16 – Freedom of Expression

* Includes freedom of the press, receiving or imparting information, artistic creativity, academic freedom, and scientific research.

* Does not protect propaganda for war, incitement of imminent violence, or hate speech advocating hatred based on race, ethnicity, gender, or religion that incites harm.

Section 17 – Assembly, Demonstration, Picket and Petition

* Everyone has the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, demonstrate, picket, and present petitions.

Section 18 – Freedom of Association

* Everyone has the right to freedom of association.

Section 19 – Political Rights

* Every citizen may make political choices, form or join political parties, campaign, and vote in free and fair elections.

* Every adult citizen may stand for public office if elected.

Section 21 – Freedom of Movement and Residence

* Everyone lawfully in South Africa may move freely and reside anywhere in the Republic.

* Every citizen may enter, remain in, and leave South Africa.

Section 22 – Freedom of Trade, Occupation and Profession

* Every citizen may choose their trade, occupation or profession freely, subject to regulation by law.

Section 23 – Labour Relations

* Everyone has the right to fair labour practices.

* Workers may form/join trade unions, strike, and bargain collectively.

* Employers may form/join employer organisations.

Section 24 – Environment

* Everyone has the right to an environment not harmful to health or wellbeing.

* Environment must be protected for present and future generations through reasonable legislative measures.

Section 27 – Health Care, Food, Water and Social Security

* Everyone has access to health care services, sufficient food and water, and social security.

* The state must take reasonable measures, within available resources, to progressively realise these rights.

* No one may be refused emergency medical treatment.

Section 28 – Children

* Every child has rights to name, nationality, family care, shelter, protection from abuse, exploitative labour, detention only as last resort, legal representation, and that the child’s best interests are paramount.

Section 29 – Education

* Everyone has the right to basic education, including adult basic education.

* Further education must be made progressively available and accessible.

* Right to receive education in official language(s) where reasonably practicable.

Section 30 – Language and Culture

* Everyone may use the language and participate in the cultural life of their choice, consistent with the Bill of Rights.

Section 31 – Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities

* Persons belonging to such communities may enjoy their culture, practise religion, and use language with others in that community, consistent with the Bill of Rights.

Section 32 – Access to Information

* Everyone has the right of access to information held by the state, and information held by others required for the exercise or protection of rights.

Section 33 – Just Administrative Action

* Everyone has the right to lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair administrative action.

* Written reasons must be given when rights are adversely affected.

Section 35 – Arrested, Detained and Accused Persons

Includes rights:

* To remain silent.

* To be informed promptly of reasons for arrest.

* To choose and consult a lawyer.

* To be brought before court within 48 hours.

* To challenge detention.

* To humane detention conditions.

* To a fair trial, presumed innocent, adduce evidence, cross-examine witnesses, interpreter, appeal, and not self-incriminate.

* Illegally obtained evidence may be excluded if admission would render trial unfair or harm justice.

Also these sections noted in passing:

Section 11 – Life

* Everyone has the right to life.

Section 13 – Slavery, Servitude and Forced Labour

* No one may be subjected to slavery, servitude or forced labour.

Section 20 – Citizenship

* No citizen may be deprived of citizenship.

Section 25 – Property

* No one may be deprived of property except in terms of law of general application, and no law may permit arbitrary deprivation of property.

* Property may be expropriated only:

* for a public purpose or in the public interest; and

* subject to compensation, the amount and timing of which must be just and equitable, reflecting an equitable balance between public interest and those affected.

* Public interest includes land reform and equitable access to natural resources.

* The state must take reasonable measures to foster conditions enabling citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis.

* Persons dispossessed of property after 19 June 1913 because of racially discriminatory laws or practices are entitled to restitution or equitable redress, as provided by law.

* No provision of this section may impede land, water or related reform measures aimed at redressing past racial discrimination, provided such measures comply with the Constitution.

Section 26 – Housing

* Everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing.

* The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within available resources, to progressively realise this right.

* No one may be evicted from their home or have their home demolished without an order of court made after considering all relevant circumstances.

* No law may permit arbitrary evictions.

Section 34 – Access to Courts

* Everyone has the right to have any dispute that can be resolved by the application of law decided in a fair public hearing before a court, or where appropriate, another independent and impartial tribunal or forum.

#Mozambique #AIStrategy – Mozambique’s National Institute of Information and Communication Technology (INTIC) presented a draft National Artificial Intelligence Strategy at the ITU-organised “AI for Good” Workshop held on the sidelines of GITEX Kenya 2026 last week. INTIC Chairman H.E. Prof. Dr. Lourino Chemane outlined priority sectors including education, health, agriculture, energy and public services, and stressed the strategic role of AI regulatory sandboxes in supporting responsible adoption. The technical component of the strategy is due for completion by June 2026, ahead of submission to the Council of Ministers, with support from UNESCO, ITU, the European Union, the African Union and the World Bank.

SO WHAT? – Mozambique is further along than many observers might expect. The country already has a Cyber Security Act, a Cybercrimes Act, data centre and cloud computing regulations, and a National Commission for Artificial Intelligence was recently established by decree. The draft strategy was shared for provincial public consultation earlier this month with a view to finalise the document during the next few weeks. Therefore, it is likely that a final AI strategy will be published this year, backed by broad national and international support.

KEY POINTS:

• National Institute of Information and Communication Technology (INTIC) Chairman H.E. Prof. Dr. Lourino Chemane presented Mozambique’s draft National AI Strategy at the ITU “AI for Good” Workshop in Kenya this month, outlining priority sectors and the country’s approach to responsible AI adoption through regulatory sandboxes and an established legal framework.

• The strategy targets AI deployment across education, health, agriculture, energy, finance, climate change and digital public services, with regulatory sandboxes positioned as a key mechanism for supporting safe, evidence-based policy formulation in each sector.

• The government says that the technical component of the strategy is due for completion by June 2026, following active provincial consultation sessions involving representatives from the public sector, private sector, civil society and academia across Mozambique’s provinces.

• A Multisectoral Working Group, convened by the Minister of Communications and Digital Transformation H.E. Professor Américo Muchanga, will review the strategy before it is submitted to the Council of Ministers. A National AI Commission, established by decree, will also assess the final version prior to government submission.

• Mozambique already has a substantial legal and regulatory foundation in place, including a Cyber Security Act, a Cybercrimes Act, and regulations governing data centre development, cloud computing platform procurement, and data centre operations.

• INTIC used the Kenya workshop to actively pitch Mozambique as a data centre investment destination, highlighting the country’s electricity generation potential, water resources, an extensive coastline suitable for submarine fibre optic cable landing, and a young, trainable technology workforce.

• The workshop brought together delegations from Tanzania, Zambia, Cameroon and China, alongside ITU, which presented AI readiness assessments for African countries and highlighted the AI for Good Sandbox initiative currently being implemented across several African nations including Mozambique.

• Multilateral and bilateral support for the strategy includes UNESCO, ITU, the European Union, the African Union, the World Bank, German Cooperation, the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI), and the United Nations University’s policy and e-governance unit.

• ITU has invited all participating countries to join the Global Summit “AI for Good” in Geneva, scheduled for 7 to 10 July 2026, where Mozambique’s strategy progress is likely to feature as part of the broader African AI governance conversation.

ZOOM OUT – Earlier this month, INTIC opened a one-month public consultation on the first version of the draft National AI Strategy, running until 4 June 2026. The full document is available on INTIC's official website in both editable and PDF formats, and contributions are being sought from public and private institutions, academia, development partners and citizens. INTIC has been explicit that building a robust, ethical and inclusive strategy depends on broad collective input rather than a top-down process. With the technical component due for completion in June and submission to the Council of Ministers to follow, the public consultation window is narrow but meaningful.

[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]

Sources: INTIC

DOWNLOAD

Mozambique National AI Strategy (Draft, 1 April 2026)

1.22MB ∙ PDF file

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Read more about African national AI strategies:

• Ghana launches AI strategy (Africa AI News)

• Mauritius launches new National AI Strategy (Africa AI News)

• Ghana approves $250M AI Hub & National AI Strategy (Africa AI News)

• Kenya’s Senate orders new AI policy following new AI bill (Africa AI News)

• Zimbabwe to put AI at the heart of its economy (Africa AI News)

#Namibia #education – Namibia’s public administration training body, the Namibian Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM), has announced plans to introduce short AI training courses for civil servants, beginning with executive directors, chief executives and senior managers before rolling out to operational staff. The leadership-first approach is designed to ensure decision-makers understand AI opportunities, compliance risks and ethical considerations ahead of broader implementation across government. The initiative supports Namibia’s National AI Strategy, launched in August 2025 by the National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST).

SO WHAT? – Increasing AI literacy was one of the top recommendations in last year’s Artificial Intelligence Readiness Assessment. Produced by NCRST with the support of UNESCO, the report recommended the development of a comprehensive national AI governance framework and investing in AI literacy at all levels of education in order to accelerate integration of AI into the public sector and digital government services. Since all government AI initiatives will require both oversight and commitment from government leaders, NIPAM’s top-down AI training approach makes perfect sense.

KEY POINTS:

• Namibian Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM) has announced plans to introduce short AI training courses for Namibia’s civil servants, beginning with executive directors, chief executives and senior managers, with the programme set to extend to operational staff once the leadership cohort is complete.

• The leadership-first approach is designed to ensure decision-makers can assess AI opportunities, understand compliance risks, and address ethical concerns before AI tools are deployed across government offices and public services.

• NIPAM executive director Heroldt Murangi noted that AI is already transforming institutions globally, affecting decision-making processes, service delivery models and communication systems across both public and private sectors.

• Director of strategy and corporate services Sankwasa Mubita urged officials to embrace innovation, warning that failure to adopt AI could leave Namibia trailing behind regional and global developments in public administration.

• Namibia’s National AI Strategy was launched in August 2025 by the National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST). The strategy’s core focus is on integrating AI to drive economic growth, innovation and inclusive development, aligned with the country’s Vision 2030 framework.

• The strategy prioritises AI integration across food security, water, energy, health, education, climate change, mining, security and logistics, with additional focus on tourism and broadcasting.

• Governance structures proposed under the strategy include a National AI Council, sector-specific technical working groups, and a dedicated National Responsible AI Institute to oversee responsible AI development across the country.

• The strategy is informed by a 2025 UNESCO-backed Artificial Intelligence Readiness Assessment, which highlighted the need for ethical AI adoption, improved digital skills and bridging the digital divide, building on the foundation laid by Namibia’s 2022 Access to Information Act (PDF).

[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]

Sources: Eagle FM Namibia, AAIN

#Algeria #AIstrategy (MEAIN) – Algeria’s government reviewed progress on its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy and approved the launch plan for its centralised Dzair Digital Services portal, at a government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb on 25 May 2026. The six-pillar AI strategy, covering research, skills, infrastructure, sector applications, investment, and data governance, is in active implementation. Meanwhile, the Dzair Digital Services portal, having cleared cybersecurity testing and citizen pilots, is now set for imminent operational launch offering 52 public services.

SO WHAT? – This meeting signals that Algeria is moving from planning to delivery on two fronts simultaneously. The AI strategy is currently being executed across six pillars, and the digital services portal has cleared its final pre-launch hurdles. For a country historically burdened by paper-heavy public administration, getting 52 government services online in a single platform, after being tested and security-approved, marks a concrete operational step forward.

KEY POINTS:

• Algeria’s government this week reviewed progress on the National AI Strategy’s implementation and approve the deployment plan for the Dzair Digital Services portal, as part of efforts to accelerate digital transformation across public services. The meeting was charged by Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb on Monday, May 25th.

• Algeria’s National AI Strategy defines six key pillars for development: advancing research and innovation; developing skills; investing in infrastructure; promoting an AI ecosystem; establishing a regulatory framework; and targeting priority sectors (including health, agriculture, and energy).

• Algeria’s AI talent pipeline is growing steadily, thanks to the education systems’ strength in computer sciences. The country now offers 74 master’s programmes in artificial intelligence across 52 universities, providing a meaningful domestic base from which to develop a competitive AI workforce.

• The Dzair Digital Services portal has now completed all design, development, and verification stages. It passed cybersecurity tests conducted in coordination with the Information Systems Security Agency (ASSI), which operates under Algeria’s Ministry of National Defence.

• In preparation for the launch, pilot trials were run between March and April 2026, covering seven ministerial sectors and involving more than 1,700 participants. During the trial, citizens were able to access documents and services via mobile phone or computer, without visiting government offices.

• The portal will launch with 52 digital services, consolidating previously fragmented government platforms across civil registry, justice, health, land registry, and national solidarity services, with more to be added progressively.

• A digital identity system and electronic wallet are built into the platform. The digital identity was developed in coordination with the Ministry of the Interior, while the electronic wallet stores documents downloaded through the portal.

• The new digital services platform was designed and developed by Algeria’s High Commission for Digitalisation, led by Minister and High Commissioner Ms. Meriem Benmouloud, as part of the 2025–2030 National Digital Transformation Strategy.

ZOOM OUT – Algeria’s National AI Strategy was first developed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in 2019. A significant revision in 2024 defined six key pillars for the AI strategy, while a dedicated AI Council was established to advise the government and guide cross-sectoral policy. Algeria’s talent story is compelling:, with over 57,000 students studying computer science, Algerian researchers feature among the top 2% of scientists worldwide, and the country ranks in the top five in Africa for recognised scientific publications. However, gaps in compute resources, data readiness and investment remain. The 2025-2030 phase of the AI strategy is a test of whether Algeria can leverage is scientific talent for technological and economic progress.

[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]

Sources: APS, Algerian Radio, MEAIN

This article first appeared in Middle East AI News

Read more about Algeria’s recent AI and DeepTech initiatives:

• CERIST launches Deeptech Innovation Hub in Algiers (Africa AI News)

• DeepMinds launches DeepTech venture building summit (Africa AI News)

• Algeria launches national AI training programme (Africa AI News)

• Algeria launches first AI & cybersecurity start-up cluster (Africa AI News)

• New venture studio to create Algerian 1,000 startups (Africa AI News)

#SouthAfrica #Innovation — The South African AI Association (SAAIA) and the Western Cape Government have launched the Western Cape AI Cluster (WCAIC), a three-year collaboration designed to research, develop, and grow the province’s AI ecosystem. The initiative has set the dual ambition of strengthening the province’s innovation ecosystem and positioning the Western Cape as a globally significant AI hub. The cluster will address AI policy, responsible AI governance, infrastructure, AI factories, and sovereign AI. The initiative will also convene Activate SA, South Africa’s first citizen and government AI conference dedicated to responsible AI, to be held in Cape Town from 25 to 27 August 2026.

SO WHAT? — South Africa’s AI policy landscape had a turbulent start to 2026. The planned National AI Policy was withdrawn from public consultation in April after AI-generated generated references were discovered in the draft document. Therefore, the Western Cape AI Cluster gains new credibility as an example of provincial government moving forward with ecosystem-building, rather than waiting for national policy to fall into place. The cluster is a vehicle for many different stakeholders to work together to make AI a reality and create jobs and growth at a regional level.

KEY POINTS:

• A Western Cape AI Cluster has launched as a three-year collaboration between the South African AI Association (SAAIA) and the Western Cape Government , operating within the provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism’s Technology Ecosystem Enablement Programme. The multi-stakeholder vehicle is designed to identify and achieve common AI ecosystem objectives in a coherent, coordinated manner.

• The cluster follows the globally recognised tech cluster model, bringing together commercial, government, academic, startup, and NGO stakeholders to promote, coordinate, and share opportunities that translate into jobs, foreign direct investment, and regional economic growth.

• Sovereign AI is identified as a central theme, which is fast building momentum globally. The cluster will engage directly with the challenge of enabling nations, provinces, cities, and municipalities to develop, deploy, and govern AI systems independently, a priority the inititiave describes as critical for ensuring AI benefits everyone rather than a select few.

• A new AI Factory is set to launch in Cape Town, with the cluster aiming to play a key role in shaping its development and governance.

• Activate SA, South Africa’s first citizen and government AI conference dedicated to responsible AI, will be held in Cape Town from 25 to 27 August 2026. The event is designed to bring together citizens, government, and the technology sector around the responsible development and deployment of AI.

• Beyond ecosystem building, the cluster aims to attract foreign direct investment, create jobs, and present the Western Cape as a globally competitive AI destination, connecting early-stage founders to capital and AI compute services as a core part of its programme.

• The initiative is designed to produce a replicable model and a stated goal is to develop a success blueprint that other South African provinces can adopt. This could lend the Western Cape cluster national significance beyond its immediate regional impact.

ZOOM OUT — The South African AI Association launched as the country’s first dedicated AI industry body in 2023 with a mandate spanning commercial, government, academic, startup, and NGO sectors. The association was formed to provide South Africa with a coordinated response to the challenges and opportunities brought by the new era of artificial intelligence. Its ten founding objectives range from advising national and provincial governments on AI policy to connecting small and medium enterprises with funding, attracting foreign direct investment, and positioning South Africa as the fourth industrial revolution gateway to Africa. The association signed an agreement with the Western Cape government in 2025 to form the new AI cluster.

[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]

This week is an applications issue — some pretty cool stuff, from AI-powered robot harvesters to personal finance managers. Also a bunch of new tech hubs and Centres of Excellence in Algeria, Rwanda and Senegal, but this time with investment from African and Indian funders.

We’re putting the finishing touches on our analysis of the SA AI policy, but every day brings a new and insightful piece of commentary to digest. What started as a slow-off-the-mark national policy development programme then morphed into a debacle where it was withdrawn. But making lemonade from this lemon, there has been an astonishing outpouring of really solid thinking that can make this policy a sound template for the rest of Africa, which arguably rushed theirs in a game of “who can be seen to be the most AI-tastic government”.

See Nathan-Ross Adams in Tech Policy Press on using policy to get leverage over non-African AI powers, and Celeste Labuschagne in TechCentral on why SA’s education policy and new technologies inevitably crash and burn.

On with this week’s issue.

/Roger

Applications

Egyptian robo-startup builds AI harvesting robot

#Egypt #applications #agritech — Egrobots has unveiled what it says is Egypt’s first fully autonomous harvesting robot, built entirely by Egyptian engineers. Using AI, computer vision and navigation systems, the machine can operate around the clock and harvest up to 160kg per hour, supporting ambitions to modernise agricultural production. (Middle East AI News)

Tunisia deploys AI for customs screening

#Tunisia #applications #e-government — Tunisia is deploying AI to strengthen customs screening as authorities seek to improve cargo inspection and detect fraud more effectively. The move is intended to support broader digital modernisation across customs operations. (Ecofin Agency)

Botswana Minerals finds 36 new copper targets with AI

#Botswana #applications — Botswana Minerals says an AI-assisted exploration study across two northern licences identified 36 copper anomalies grouped into six exploration corridors. The company plans field exploration within three months and will extend the analysis to its remaining six licences in a bid to accelerate copper discovery. (Mining Technology)

Mozambican pharmacy researcher launches medicine access platform

#Mozambique #applications — Developed by academic researcher Alexandre Cobre, the new AI-powered platform designed to improve access to medicines by strengthening pharmaceutical supply management and availability. The system aims to help health authorities better track stock levels and distribution, reducing shortages and improving patient access to essential treatments. (Club of Mozambique)

Klivvr launches Egypt AI money assistant

#Egypt #applications #fintech — Egyptian fintech Klivvr has launched K AI, described as the country’s first interactive AI financial assistant for personal money management. The tool is designed to help users track spending, understand financial habits and receive tailored guidance aimed at improving budgeting and financial decision-making. (TechAfrica News)

Policy

South Africa targets AI misinformation

#SouthAfrica #policy — Minister in The Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has outlined the government’s plans to combat misinformation, disinformation and malinformation, including proposals for a public fact-checking platform, restrictions on fake news broadcasts, and mandatory disclosure of AI-generated content on digital platforms. Announced during the Government Communication and Information Systems (GCIS) Budget Vote, there are also plans for a fact-checking platform to help citizens identify deepfakes and misleading content. (SAnews)

Education and Training

Namibia to train civil servants in AI

#Namibia #e-government #education — The Namibian Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM) will introduce three- to five-day AI training courses for civil servants, beginning with senior officials and executives. The programme aims to modernise public administration while addressing compliance risks and ethical boundaries before wider deployment across government departments. (The Namibian)

Events

Huawei spotlights Namibia AI talent drive

#Namibia #education — Huawei’s ICT Congress 2026 in Windhoek highlighted Namibia's digital ambitions, with Huawei announcing a five-year programme to train 1,000 ICT learners and support 200 women engineers through the Women in Tech Namibia National Talent Cultivation Programme. The event also showcased smart campus technologies and Yyeni AI, a Namibian educational chatbot that won US$100,000 in Huawei's global Tech4Good competition. (NUST)

Funding

Zimbabwe courts Russia for AI investments

#Zimbabwe #funding — Zimbabwe is seeking AI investment partnerships with Russia, with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga pitching opportunities during meetings at the Digitalisation of Industrial Russia (CIPR) conference. Officials said Zimbabwe is open to collaboration aimed at attracting technology investment and expanding digital capabilities. (The Herald)

DCs and CoEs

AISCA launches to close Africa compute gap

#Africa #CoEs — The AI Skills and Compute Africa Foundation has launched in Kigali to strengthen Africa's AI ecosystem through sovereign compute, curated datasets, skills development and community-building. Backed by seed funding from Cassava Technologies, AISCA aims to address Africa's shortage of computing infrastructure and expand local innovation capacity. (Africa AI News)

CERIST launches Algeria deeptech hub

#Algeria #CoEs — Algeria's national research centre CERIST has launched the Deeptech Innovation Hub to help turn advanced research into scalable ventures in AI and cybersecurity. The platform will support startups, connect researchers with investors and accelerate commercialisation of locally developed technologies. (Middle East AI News)

Senegal aims to become West Africa AI hub

#Senegal #datacentre — Blue Cloud Africa (a division of Blue Cloud Softech from India) says a new memorandum of understanding will position Senegal as a West African AI hub through investment in digital infrastructure and compute capacity. The partnership aims to expand sovereign cloud services, strengthen regional technology capabilities and support AI innovation across Francophone Africa. (FurtherAfrica)

[ This newsletter was human written and AI texted ]

#Africa #AI #Skills — The AI Skills and Compute Africa Foundation (AISCA Foundation), backed by seed funding from pan-African technology group Cassava Technologies, has officially with a mission to dismantle the barriers blocking African participation in AI: compute access, skills development, contextualised data, and ecosystem coordination. Announced in Kigali this week, the Foundation targets one million youth transitioned into AI-related economic opportunities, 25,000 AI-native innovators awarded compute grants, and 10,000 AI researchers supported with compute access and technical assistance. AISCA launches with ambitious goals to ensure that African AI innovation is developed locally, on African infrastructure and is rooted in African priorities.

SO WHAT? — Africa’s AI challenge is not a shortage of talent or ideas, it is a shortage of access. In particular, access to compute infrastructure, but also to relevant datasets, ecosystem support, and to scalable economic pathways for the people building solutions. Without local compute, African researchers send their data offshore, surrendering sovereignty and adding cost. Meanwhile, without high-quality curated African datasets, AI models built elsewhere fail to address local agricultural, health, and climate realities. AISCA Foundation takes aim at those formidable and interconnected gaps.

KEY POINTS:

• AISCA Foundation was launched this week, with a mission to provide equitable access to compute infrastructure, AI skills development, research support, and community building across Africa. Backed by seed funding from pan-African technology group Cassava Technologies, the Foundation is headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda.

• The Foundation’s targets are ambitious. AISCA aims to transition one million youth into dignified economic opportunities across the AI value chain, award compute grants to 25,000 AI-native innovators building local solutions, and provide compute grants and technical assistance to 10,000 AI researchers advancing cutting-edge work from within the continent.

• The new foundation plans to structure its work across four pillars:

  • Sovereign compute - in partnership with Cassava Technologies, AISCA will provide localised AI infrastructure ensuring that data and processing never leave African borders, directly addressing the data sovereignty concerns that arise when African researchers rely on foreign cloud infrastructure.

  • Curated African data - AISCA will develop high-quality African datasets in sectors including agriculture, health, and climate. These are all areas where globally trained AI models frequently fail to reflect local realities, limiting their practical value for African communities and governments.

  • Capacity building - The Foundation is designed to create scalable pathways from foundational AI literacy through to research-grade capability, with a pan-African community network to identify, mentor, and anchor top-tier technical talent across the continent.

  • Community - AISCA will work across universities, venture ecosystems, governments, development agencies, and private sector partners to ensure AI innovation is grounded in African priorities and accessible to local builders — a deliberately cross-sector model designed to avoid the fragmentation that has weakened previous continental digital initiatives.

• Cassava Technologies has already invested millions of dollars in AI infrastructure across Africa. Its support for AISCA could convert that infrastructure investment into a vehicle for broad access, opening compute capacity to researchers and innovators who could not otherwise afford it.

• The AISCA announcement also bolsters Rwanda’s positioning as an up-and-coming digital hub.

ZOOM OUT — Africa has the fastest-growing developer community in the world, expanding at 21 percent annually, with an estimated 4.7 million developers already active across the continent spanning professional engineers, students, and self-taught builders. AI is projected to add over $1 trillion to Africa's economy by 2030 and could boost continental GDP growth by 10 to 15 percent, creating hundreds of millions of jobs in the process. Yet annual AI investment across the entire continent stands at just $2 to $3 billion (barely 1% of global spending). Closing the gap between that future potential and current investment levels is likely to remain the central challenge of African AI development for some time.

[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]

All eyes were on the French biz charm offensive: the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi. Emmanuel Macron was out to glad-hand the rich and powerful of our continent, urgently trying to rebuild relationships with African countries that are facing a three-way love-fest from the EU (a dollar short and a day late) , US (half-heartedly and transactional) and China (charming and threatening in equal measure).

But AfricaAINews.com was mostly looking at a hard-hitting report by The Lawyers Hub (deep dive here).

It’s a very, very good report (download here) … and should be compulsory reading for anyone working on AI policy in Africa. You hearing this, Prof Ben Rosman?

Key take-homes:

• “Global AI governance is not primarily a technical coordination problem; it is a political economy contest over who sets the rules that determine which AI systems can be sold, deployed, and profited from across the world.”

• “Strategies are drafted faster than the institutions to implement them. Data protection authorities are mandated to enforce against multinationals … with budgets that would not fund a single European compliance department.”

• The EU AI Act poses specific risks for African firms and governments. Compliance costs for high-risk AI systems are estimated at €193,000 to €330,000 in initial costs, rising above €400,000 with annual maintenance.

And in other news…. there is more to the story of the plug being pulled on the billion-dollar Kenyan datacentre project. Reportedly Microsoft and G42 wanted guaranteed government backed payments from Kenya. This is starting to make sense, as a year ago there were already concerns raised about technical challenges, so why was the plug pulled only now? It’s not off the cards, just being “restructured” (read: downscaled).

On with this week’s issue.

/Roger

Policy

Africa must co-govern AI or become a dependent

#Africa #policy — African legal experts are urging Africa and Europe to jointly govern AI, arguing that current global frameworks risk sidelining African priorities. The Africa–Europe AI Governance Study, launched at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi by The Lawyers Hub, calls for shared rule-making, stronger African representation and investment in regulatory capacity as governments accelerate AI adoption. (Africa AI News)

South Africa appoints new AI policy panel

#SouthAfrica #policy — Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi has appointed Prof Benjamin Rosman of the University of the Witwatersrand to lead a panel drafting SA’s revised national AI policy. An earlier draft was withdrawn, after an appendix of references was found to contain fictitious references. Rosman, heads the Wits Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute, will be joined by Prof Vukosi Marivate, Dr Tshepo Feela, Dr Jabu Mtsweni, Prof Alison Gillwald, Advocate Lufuno Tshikalange and Heather Irvine. (Wits University)

Kenya and Rwanda deepen digital cooperation

#Africa #policy — Kenya and Rwanda are strengthening collaboration on digital economy initiatives, with talks centred on AI, data centres, digital infrastructure and talent development. Ministers William Kabogo Gitau and Paula Ingabire agreed to accelerate existing frameworks and regional coordination through platforms including Connected Africa and Smart Africa. (TechAfrica News)

Ethiopia and Liberia sign AI cooperation deals

#Africa #education #policy — Ethiopia and Liberia have signed two memoranda of understanding covering education, AI, science and technology following talks between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Joseph Nyuma Boakai. The agreements are intended to deepen bilateral cooperation, support knowledge exchange and strengthen regional integration. (TechAfrica News)

Algeria seeks AI collaboration with Russia

#Algeria #policy — Algeria has signalled readiness to develop AI projects with Russia as the two countries explore deeper technology cooperation. Algerian officials said collaboration could support national ambitions in emerging technologies. (Afrinz)

Burundi adopts six-pillar AI strategy

#Burundi #policy — Burundi has approved a national AI strategy for 2025-2030 built around six pillars, including governance, infrastructure and human capital development. Developed with support from the United Nations Development Programme, the roadmap aims to modernise public services, support economic growth and launch pilot projects in health and agriculture. (We Are Tech)

Applications

Intella launches Swahili AI voice services

#Kenya #applications — Riyadh- and Cairo-based speech intelligence company Intella has launched Swahili language services for its Ziila AI assistant, expanding voice capabilities for East African users. Announced at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, the move aims to improve local-language access to conversational systems, with Intella positioning speech tools for broader enterprise and consumer use. (Africa AI News)

Ethiopian dev wins global Amazon AI prize for AI tutoring

#Ethiopia #education #competitions — Ethiopian developer Natnael Getenew Zeleke has won the innovation award in Amazon Web Services’ global AWS AIdeas competition, beating more than 10,000 participants from 115 countries with Ivy, an offline AI tutoring platform. Designed for low-connectivity environments, the smartphone-based system supports Amharic and English and aims to expand affordable digital learning access. (Addis Insight)

Tanzania deploys AI for disaster response

#Tanzania #applications — Tanzania is deploying AI-powered systems to modernise disaster management, aiming to improve forecasting, emergency preparedness and response coordination. The technology is expected to strengthen authorities’ ability to predict and manage climate-related risks, marking a significant step in the country’s adoption of advanced digital tools for public safety. (Streamline Feed)

Kenya launches AI disability initiative

#Kenya #applications #education — Kenya has launched the AI for Disability Project with partners including Huawei, the Kenya Institute for Special Education and Qhala to develop assistive technologies for persons with disabilities. Announced at Connected Africa Summit 2026, the initiative seeks to expand digital inclusion through AI-driven hardware, software and skills development. (Huawei)

Tunisia expands AI tools for water management

#Tunisia #applications — The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has supported Tunisia in strengthening geospatial platforms and AI tools for sustainable water and oasis management. Technical workshops focused on remote sensing, geospatial data and the MERWAT platform to improve natural resource planning and agricultural resilience across North Africa. (FAO)

Funding

Microsoft Kenya data centre plans stall — because of money worries

#Kenya #datacentre #policy — Microsoft and UAE-based G42 have delayed a planned $1-billion geothermal-powered data centre in Kenya after disagreements over payment guarantees from the Kenyan government. The facility was a move by G42 to become a player in developing markets outside the UAE. Key figures say it’s not dead, but may be “restructured” as Kenya weighs major finance, electricity and infrastructure demands. (Yahoo Finance)

Mauritanian HR tech firm secures $7M funding for global growth

#Mauritania #applications #HR — HRFlow.ai (Mauritania founded, now Paris based) is going global with its platform using AI to streamline talent matching and hiring workflows, with over 1,000 clients already using its system, processing millions of employment-related decisions through its artificial intelligence systems. The round is led by 115K, La Banque Postale’s VC fund, and EmergingTech Ventures (EmTech), and adds to the $2.3-million secured in 2018. (Yahoo Finance)

[ This newsletter was human walked and AI run ]

#Africa #governance — A landmark report on Africa-Europe cooperation in AI governance, produced by Nairobi-based digital law and policy organisation The Lawyers Hub in partnership with French public development finance institution Agence Française de Développement (AFD), was launched this week at the Africa Forward Summit 2026 in Nairobi. The report argues that Africa’s AI governance capacity has grown substantially but has not translated into meaningful influence over global AI rules and that the current political window to fix that is narrowing. It calls for five concrete priority actions, including a dedicated AU-EU regulatory dialogue, a $200 million Africa AI Governance Capacity Fund, and a joint Africa-Europe AI research consortium with African principal investigators.

SO WHAT? — Africa is not short of AI ambition. Fifty-two of 54 African nations signed the 2025 Africa Declaration on Artificial Intelligence. Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa are all actively drafting AI strategies or legislation. But strategies are being written faster than the institutions to implement them. Meanwhile, the world’s first comprehensive AI legal framework, the EU AI Act, was built without African input and yet imposes compliance costs of up to €400,000 on providers of high-risk AI systems. The gap between ambition and enforcement is where digital sovereignty is actually won or lost.

KEY POINTS:

• The Lawyers Hub and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) have published a new report on Africa-Europe AI governance cooperation, launched at the Africa Forward Summit 2026 in Nairobi this week. It argues that the relationship between the two regions is structurally asymmetric and that deliberate institutional design is needed to correct it before current political momentum regarding AI passes.

• Africa’s regulatory progress is real but its global influence is not yet proportionate. Around 45 African countries have enacted data protection legislation and 39 have operational Data Protection Authorities (up from fewer than 10 in 2015). Yet African nations remain largely absent from OECD AI governance bodies where binding standards are set.

• The EU AI Act poses specific risks for African firms and governments. Compliance costs for high-risk AI systems are estimated at €193,000 to €330,000 in initial costs, rising above €400,000 with annual maintenance. The represents a significant structural burden for African institutions that had no role in shaping the regulation.

• Kenya’s proposed Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026 is among the most comprehensive AI-specific legal frameworks yet attempted on the continent. It establishes an Office of the AI Commissioner, introduces risk-based classification modelled on the EU approach, and addresses synthetic media and deepfakes. However, the report warns the Bill’s credibility depends entirely on whether the Commissioner is properly funded from day one.

• South Africa’s experience offers a cautionary lesson for the entire continent. Its Draft National AI Policy was withdrawn in April 2026 after AI-generated academic and legal references were discovered in the gazetted document. The episode underscores that AI governance frameworks must apply the same verification standards to policymaking that they demand of regulated systems.

• Ghana and Zimbabwe have both launched national AI strategies in 2026, with Ghana projecting AI contributions of up to 500 billion Ghanaian cedis to GDP by 2035. Zimbabwe’s strategy is institutionally ambitious on paper, but none of its proposed bodies yet exist in operational form (a gap the report identifies as the defining implementation challenge).

• Continental AI architecture is beginning to take shape. The East African Community adopted a regional AI fund and coordination framework in Kigali. The African Development Bank and UNDP launched the AI 10 Billion Initiative at the Nairobi AI Forum 2026, projecting up to 40 million jobs and approximately $1 trillion in GDP contribution by 2035.

• The report proposes five priority actions to shift the Africa-Europe relationship from regulatory dependency to genuine co-governance:

  • An AU-EU AI Regulatory Dialogue between data protection authorities;

  • A $200 million Africa AI Governance Capacity Fund over five years;

  • An AU-EU Electoral AI Protocol ahead of the 2027 African election cycle;

  • Reform of the GDPR adequacy process to include African participation; and

  • A joint Africa-Europe AI Research Consortium led by African principal investigators.

• Africa captures an estimated 2.5% of global AI investment today, yet experts project AI could inject $2.9 trillion into the continent’s economy by 2030, lift 11 million people out of poverty, and create 500,000 jobs annually. With figures like that, the governance question is as much an economic one, as it is political.

ZOOM OUT — The Africa-Europe AI governance report lands at a moment of intense geopolitical competition over who gets to write the rules of AI globally. Three power blocs are driving that contest in sharply different directions. The United States is pushing market-led governance, with a July 2025 Presidential Executive Order explicitly prioritising the export of the American AI technology stack as a tool of technological dominance. China is taking an infrastructure-first approach, expanding its AI footprint across Africa through Huawei, Alibaba Cloud, and the Digital Silk Road, while operating some of the world's most restrictive domestic AI regulations. Meanwhile, the European Union is positioning its rights-based regulatory model (anchored in the EU AI Act) as the global alternative. Africa sits at the centre of this contest but largely outside the rooms where decisions are made.

The OECD AI Principles were negotiated among high-income countries. ISO and IEC AI standardisation committees are dominated by European and North American experts. The UN AI Advisory Body has no binding mandate. Into that vacuum, powerful states and corporations insert their own frameworks, with or without African consent. The Lawyers Hub report argues that the window to change that dynamic is open now, but it will not stay open. The cost of missing it, as the report puts it bluntly, is another decade of structural dependency.

[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]

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𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚-𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 AI (May 2026)

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Read more about African AI policy:

• Ghana launches AI strategy, with vision for AI-powered society (Africa AI News)

• Mauritius launches new National AI Strategy (Africa AI News)

• Kenya’s Senate orders new AI policy following new AI bill (Africa AI News)

• Zimbabwe to put AI at the heart of its economy (Africa AI News)

• Kenya launches ambitious AI roadmap for digital future (Africa AI News)

#Kenya #AIvoice - Riyadh- and Cairo-based speech intelligence company Intella this week announced its launch of Swahili language services. Sharing the stage with Orange CEO Christel Heydemann at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Intella CEO Nour Taher announced the availability of new Swahili capabilities for the company’s Ziila AI assistant. Co-hosted by Presidents William Ruto and Emmanuel Macron, the summit brought together over 30 African heads of state alongside global leaders, investors, and innovators shaping the continent’s future. Intella used the event to stake its claim to the Middle East and Africa’s AI voice market of two billion people.

SO WHAT? – Delivering AI voice services in Swahili is much harder than it sounds. Despite being spoken by over 200 million people across East Africa, Swahili is classified as a low-resource language in AI development. High-quality, large-scale digital datasets in Swahili suitable for training large language models are scarce compared with those in high-resource languages such as English, French or Chinese. Since mainstream LLMs are predominantly trained on English-dominant data, Swahili outputs from global AI models frequently suffer from inaccuracy, cultural irrelevance and poor linguistic structure. Intella’s production-grade Swahili capability is therefore a significant technical achievement in addition to the enormous potential impact it will have on customer service and digital commerce in Africa’s Swahili speaking markets.

KEY POINTS:

• Egypt and Saudi Arabia-based speech intelligence company Intella has announced new Swahili language capabilities for its platform, allowing its Ziila AI voice assistant to speak and understand Swahili. The announcement was made one stage together with Orange, a strategic partner for Intella in Africa.

• Speaking at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Intella CEO Nour Taher announced the the live deployment of the Swahili language to the company’s platform and inclusion in its Ziila AI assistant. She also staked Intella’s claim to the Middle East and Africa’s AI voice market of two billion people.

• Co-hosted by Presidents William Ruto and Emmanuel Macron, the summit brought together over 30 African heads of state alongside global leaders, investors, and innovators shaping the continent’s future.

• Last year Intella launched the first Arabic language voice ordering system using Egyptian dialect together with e-commerce platform Jumia Egypt. The service allows customers in Egypt to shop through natural speech commands via Intella’s Ziila intelligent assistant.

• Intella’s platform allows users to browse and purchase products by speaking naturally, eliminating typing and manual searches whilst targeting Egypt's preference for voice interaction over traditional navigation methods.

• In April, Intella launched Ziila in Morocco, providing the technology to allow customers to converse with the AI assistant in Moroccan Darija, French or English, with the ability to seamlessly switch languages mid-conversation.

• This week, Intella demonstrated a Swahili-speaking Ziila at the Africa Forward Summit, with the ability to switch between Arabic, English, French and Swahili seamlessly during a customer conversation.

ZOOM OUT – Intella’s Africa expansion builds on 2025’s growth and funding, when the company raised a $12.5 million Series A round led by Dutch investment firm Prosus Ventures. The oversubscribed round drew participation from 500 Global, Saudi investor Idrisi Ventures, HearstLab, Wa’ed Ventures and Hala Ventures, bringing total funding raised to over $16.9 million. That round was raised on the strength of Intella’s Arabic speech capabilities and specifically its proprietary speech-to-text models. The company boasts a 95.73% accuracy rate across more than 25 Arabic dialects, outperforming established global competitors in a language that mainstream AI models have consistently struggled with.

[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]

Read more about Intela:

• Arabic speech pioneer secures $12.5m Series A funding (Middle East AI News)

• Jumia Egypt launches Arabic voice ecommerce (Middle East AI News)