Africa’s AI strategy: five questions for teams building now

Read a strategy as a direction

The African Union Executive Council endorsed the Continental AI Strategy in July 2024. The AU describes a coordinated approach to inclusive, responsible AI development and cooperation. A continental strategy is a policy direction; it is not a substitute for checking the rules that apply to a specific product in a specific jurisdiction.

Whose problem is being solved?

Write the user problem without mentioning AI. A school might need quicker access to approved teaching materials; a retailer might need cleaner stock records. If a simpler search tool or a better form solves the problem, compare that option before paying for a model. This is ITBank’s implementation advice, not a requirement quoted from the strategy.

Which language and which data?

List the languages, dialects and document formats real users will bring. Build a small evaluation set with permission to use the material. Separate training rights from permission to process a customer request. Avoid placing confidential records in a tool merely because a demonstration used public examples.

How will failure be noticed?

Define an unacceptable answer before launch. Test missing information, ambiguous requests and questions outside the system’s scope. Record both correct answers and confident errors. Give users an understandable route to a person when the consequences of a mistake are significant.

Who owns the decision?

Assign someone to review incidents, changes in the supplier’s terms and the cost of continued operation. Keep a versioned record of evaluation results. The useful deliverable is a short decision memo: the problem, alternatives, test evidence, remaining risks and the person accountable for deployment. That makes an AI proposal easier to challenge and improve.

Sources and further reading

African Union: Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy