Building regional capacity for AI safety in Africa

The Africa AI Council’s recent endorsement at the Global AI Summit marks a significant step toward coordinated artificial intelligence development across the continent. With AI projected to contribute $2.9 trillion to African economies by 2030, this new governance body emerges at a critical moment when regional collaboration in AI security and safety standards has become essential. The initiative represents Africa’s growing determination to shape AI governance that addresses unique regional challenges while securing a seat at the global AI governance table.

The big picture: The Africa AI Council, initiated by Smart Africa (an alliance of 40 African countries), aims to transform African economies through coordinated AI development while addressing specific regional safety and security concerns.

• The Council was formally endorsed at the inaugural Global AI Summit on Africa in Rwanda in April 2025, co-hosted by the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Rwanda’s Ministry of Information Communication Technology.
• This new body emerges as Africa recognizes both the transformative economic potential of AI and the unique regional risks it presents.

Key technical challenges: AI systems trained primarily on Western data sources and languages create significant safety and equity risks when deployed across African contexts.

• Large language models demonstrate markedly worse performance in African languages compared to English, increasing the likelihood of generating false claims in local languages.
• This performance gap raises serious concerns about AI systems spreading disinformation and perpetuating language biases across African communities.

Broader security implications: Beyond technical limitations, Africa faces multi-faceted AI security threats that could impact national stability.

• The brief warns of AI-enabled manipulation campaigns, more destructive armed conflicts, economic disruption, and direct national security threats that could be uniquely damaging in developing economies.
• These challenges are compounded by less robust institutional capacity to monitor and respond to AI safety incidents compared to more developed regions.

Proposed solutions: The brief recommends two core institutional responses to strengthen Africa’s regional approach to AI governance.

• Establishing an AI Safety and Security Expert Working Group would develop unified regional positions on AI risks and ensure African participation in global governance forums.
• Creating a permanent Regional AI Safety and Security Task Force would build infrastructure to address emerging AI threats with appropriate urgency while developing contextually relevant safety standards.

Why this matters: The Africa AI Council represents a crucial opportunity for the continent to develop localized AI governance that addresses unique regional challenges while securing African participation in shaping global AI standards.

• Without coordinated regional approaches, individual African nations risk having limited influence in international AI governance discussions dominated by Western and Asian powers.
• Regional consensus on AI safety could help African nations pool resources and expertise to address safety challenges beyond what any single country could accomplish alone.