Former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has proposed what he has described as “six concrete policy commitments” to help Africa’s artifical intelligence (AI) take off.
At the London School of Economics and Political Science’s Africa Summit in London over the weekend, where he delivered the Keynote Address on the theme: ‘Artificial Intelligence and Closing Borders in Africa’, Dr. Bawumia highlighted the potential of AI to help transform Africa in the digital age, and urge the continent to embrace the opportunity AI offers, in order not to miss out.
While he decried the lack of the needed digital foundation in many African countries to aid the smooth deployment of AI, Dr. Bawumia also offered solutions by outlining six policy points for the continent.
Below are the six concrete commitments Dr. Bawumia proposed for Africa to implement.
1. Build AI foundations: invest to make power available and reliable, broadband, and secure data infrastructure should also be a national priority aligned to continental strategy.
2. Build trustworthy data ecosystems: digitalization to produce the requisite quality data, representativeness, and lawful governance, so African AI reflects African realities and protects rights.
3. Build talent at scale from AI literacy to advanced research through curriculum reform and workforce programs targeted at real labour-market needs.
4. Build procurement capacity so governments can move beyond pilots to responsible deployment with accountability, audits, and measurable outcomes.
5. Build ethics into practice: adopt impact assessment, transparency, and human oversight for high-stakes systems.
6. Build cross-border scale: use continental instruments and harmonized rules to make African markets interoperable for digital trade and AI-enabled services.
With the above implemented, Dr. Bawumia was of the firm belief that Africa will be a leader in the global AI narratives.
“Africa is poised to shape the global AI conversation not as a passive consumer, but as a builder of responsible systems that reflect our values, our languages, and our development priorities,” he said.
The former Vice President urged African leaders to be deliberate on making the requisite investment to create the ecosystems where innovations and innovators thrive.
“If we make the right investment, unite borders through infrastructure, skills, governance, and markets, then AI can become a force for shared prosperity.”