Africa-Press – Mauritius. Some African countries have taken steps to better prepare for the arrival of artificial intelligence, according to a recent report. These are not necessarily the continent’s economic heavyweights. Governments in sub-Saharan Africa have made real progress in their approach to artificial intelligence, according to a report by Oxford Insights.
Several countries have published national strategies, while others are working with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to comply with its ethical recommendations.
Mauritius, which has a long history in the field, is the country with the most advanced policy on artificial intelligence. But the archipelago is now followed by a pack of continental countries.
South Africa, Rwanda, Senegal, and Benin round up the top 5 countries whose governments are best prepared for the emergence of AI. Several of these countries are classified by the World Bank as low-income or lower-middle-income, a departure from familiar patterns.
“This goes against the trend we have seen in some other world regions, in which the most developed or largest economies are the first to create national AI strategies. By this logic, countries like South Africa or Nigeria would create national AI strategies first, yet neither has done so,” Oxford Insights notes.
Nigeria, however, appears to be playing catch-up, having enacted a new data protection law in 2023 that will replace the 2019 Data Protection Regulation with more comprehensive legislation, according to the institute.
According to the report, there has been a decrease in the number of global AI strategies released, mainly due to a decline in strategies from higher-income countries.
However, there has been a significant change this year, as half of the newly launched or announced strategies are coming from low and lower-middle-income countries. It is worth mentioning that Rwanda has made history as the first low-income country to publish an AI strategy.
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