Charting Africa’s AI Future: A Declaration for Ethical, Inclusive, and Strategic AI
On April 4, 2025, history was made in Kigali, Rwanda, as African leaders gathered to sign the Africa Declaration on Artificial Intelligence. This milestone moment marked a unified commitment by over 50 African countries to embrace AI as a transformative tool guided by ethics, inclusivity, and the shared priorities of the continent.
The Declaration, aligned with Agenda 2063, the AU Continental Strategy on AI, and the UN Global Digital Compact, signals Africa’s determination to shape its own AI destiny. It outlines bold commitments: from building a pipeline of AI talent and safeguarding data sovereignty, to creating a $60 billion Africa AI Fund to support domestic innovation, and establishing governance frameworks that are not only future-fit, but contextually African.
The Kigali Declaration isn’t just a document, it’s a statement of intent that Africa refuses to be a passive consumer of global AI tools. Instead, it will lead with its values. But for this vision to succeed, policymakers must continue to be influenced and supported by technologists, ethicists, and civic actors to implement practical, rights-based approaches. Ensuring AI in Africa is safe, inclusive, and accountable requires more than high-level commitments, it needs follow-through.
That’s why Tech for Good is closely monitoring the developments and recommendations emerging from the Summit. As an African-based consultancy committed to responsible technology, we see our role as helping civil society organisations and governments interpret and implement the values embedded in the Declaration, especially on issues like data privacy, AI safety, digital public infrastructure, and ethical procurement.
The Declaration underscores the importance of ethics, transparency, human dignity, and environmental sustainability in AI deployment. It champions regional cooperation, open data frameworks, high-performance computing infrastructure, and an “Africa-first” approach to innovation. Notably, it also calls for the creation of an African AI Scientific Panel and an Africa AI Council, structures that could prove vital in ensuring that policymaking is informed by grounded, evidence-based research.
But the road ahead won’t be easy. The AI safety challenges identified globally, from misinformation and bias to surveillance and misuse are amplified in low-capacity, high-risk environments. Influencing how these tools are deployed, and ensuring guardrails exist from the outset, is critical.
We invite other technologists, funders, and policymakers to join this journey, not only to celebrate this historic step but to co-create mechanisms that embed safety, trust, and equity into every stage of AI development on the continent.
Africa has spoken. Now, we must act.
Tech for Good will continue to share insights, tools, and research to support the implementation of the Kigali Declaration. To learn more or collaborate with us, visit www.techforgood.co.za.
Explore the full Declaration here
