DeepTech Summit 2025: Thoughts on how Africa can lead responsible AI innovation

Artificial intelligence (AI) is fast becoming one of the most defining technologies of our time. From reshaping global economies to transforming public services, the governance of AI is no longer a question of “if” but “how”, and more urgently, “by whom.”

Yet, when it comes to Africa, the conversation around AI innovation and governance remains fragmented, underreported, and at times misunderstood. How do we govern AI in a way that is ethically sound, locally relevant, and globally competitive?

Technext caught up with two leading African voices on AI: Chinasa T. Okolo, a research Fellow at The Brookings Institution focused on AI governance and policy, and Lavina Ramkisoon, a South African AI strategist and Citizen Ambassador to the African Union’s Sixth Region on the sidelines of the DeepTech Summit 2025, held in April 8th and 9th at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Morocco.

Their sideline conversations highlighted the urgent need for context-driven AI governance across the continent.

Speaking about global efforts to regulate artificial intelligence, Chinasa Okolo noted that African countries are often left navigating a fragmented and externally shaped governance landscape.

While major powers like the United States, China, and the European Union are racing to legislate AI in line with their economic and geopolitical interests, African states frequently adopt frameworks that lack relevance to their realities.

Okolo emphasised that copying and pasting Western regulatory templates does little to address Africa’s distinct technological, social, and legal contexts. Instead, she called for locally developed governance frameworks rooted in African values, needs, and institutional structures.

“While I don’t encourage countries to blindly adopt these existing frameworks, particularly from the EU AI Act, I think they set a good model to follow. From there, I think it is important that countries invest in and tap local talent because they have AI researchers in-house, academic researchers, and other policy advocates from civil society and other organisations. So, tapping into local talent, funding them, and supporting them in researching to understand this contextual knowledge around AI adoption, usage, and its harms and limitations can help inform policy development,” she said.

She also highlighted the importance of multi-stakeholder participation, arguing that AI governance must involve not just governments but also civil society, academia, and the private sector.

For Okolo, inclusive policy development is essential for creating ethical, sustainable, and impactful AI ecosystems in Africa.

Africa’s AI innovation is stifled by a fragmented ecosystem

In a separate conversation, Lavina Ramkisoon reflected on the uneven AI ecosystem across Africa. While some countries like Kenya, Morocco, and Rwanda are positioning themselves as leaders in the space, she pointed out that progress remains fragmented and lacks the coordinated vision needed for a continental scale.

“Even though we’ve had an African Union AI strategy since 2018, updated in 2024, our continental stance is not yet vocal or cohesive enough,” she noted.

Ramkisoon advocated for a networked approach to AI innovation, where countries specialize in different domains and collaborate rather than operate in silos.

She stressed the need for institutional agility, particularly within academic institutions, noting that universities must evolve from passive think tanks into launchpads for policy experimentation, innovation, and talent incubation.

Her most compelling points came through grassroots examples of AI innovation.

From a young Moroccan developing a local-language voice recognition system for flood emergencies, to a Ugandan teenager building a crop yield predictor for his community, Ramkisoon highlighted how human-centred, low-resource AI solutions are already addressing real-world challenges across Africa.

“So, when we talk about the tangible things happening on the ground, there’s a lot of impact. It’s not always the headline-grabbing cases like developing large language models for NLP for local African languages, though that’s an important part of the narrative and an area that needs development. But I think there is also an understanding of how we can solve our actual challenges as a continent,” she said.

A common thread in both conversations was the underutilised potential of Africa’s AI talent. As training programs grow across the continent, there remains a stark mismatch between the number of individuals equipped with technical skills and the opportunities to apply these skills meaningfully.

“One of the things I find striking is that we might have, for example, 3,000 people qualified in robotics, but only five robotics jobs available on the continent. So, how do you create more room for internships? How do you create more room for apprenticeship programs? The answer isn’t always entrepreneurship. It is also about allowing existing large corporations to make room for these skills to be adopted.” Ramkisoon observed.

Both speakers agreed that addressing this gap requires not only investment but a shift in mindset from passive consumers of AI to active creators and regulators of its future.

The conversations at the DeepTech Summit revealed a clear truth: for Africa, AI governance cannot be an afterthought. It must be deliberate, inclusive, and driven by African voices and realities.

While regulatory frameworks are important, the future of AI in Africa will be shaped just as much by the lived experiences of its people, the agility of its institutions, and the vision of its leaders.