African Union Continental AI Strategy is a Policy statement from African_Union, adopted on 2024-07-19 and effective 2024-07-19. Current status: In force. Continental-level non-binding strategy for 55 AU member states. Frames AI through development-rights / digital-sovereignty / capacity-building lens. Explicitly references unequal compute access + dataset coloniality as governance concerns absent from OECD-bloc instruments. Operationalisation via national strategies (e.g., Egypt 2030, Kenya AI Roadmap, South Africa NAIPF).
Scope and obligations
Continental-level non-binding strategy for 55 AU member states. Frames AI through development-rights / digital-sovereignty / capacity-building lens. Explicitly references unequal compute access + dataset coloniality as governance concerns absent from OECD-bloc instruments. Operationalisation via national strategies (e.g., Egypt 2030, Kenya AI Roadmap, South Africa NAIPF).
African Union Continental AI Strategy addresses 3 contested AI-governance topics explicitly, 1 via general principles,.
Topics governed
- implicitTraining-Data Rights— AU Strategy §5 + Malabo Convention (2014) data-protection baseline
- governsTechnological Sovereignty— AU Strategy §4 (continental compute + data infrastructure + skill-formation)
- governsDevelopment-Rights Framings— AU Strategy §§1-3 (AI as continental development priority + data-coloniality framing)
- governsInternational Coordination— AU Strategy §6 (coordination with UN GA AI resolutions + AU-EU AI Working Group)
Cross-jurisdiction comparison
How peer instruments treat the topics African Union Continental AI Strategy governs.
| Topic | EU-AIA-2024 | US-EO-14110 | US-EO-14179 | UK-WHITEPAPER-2023 | CN-GENAI-2023 | G7-HIROSHIMA | OECD-AI-PRIN | COE-AI-CONV | UN-RES-2024 | NIST-AI-RMF | BLETCHLEY-2023 | SEOUL-2024 | NIST-AI-RMF-GENAI | CA-SB-1047 | IN-DPDP-2023 | BR-AIBILL-2024 | ASEAN-AI-GUIDE-2024 | ANTHROPIC-RSP-2024 | OPENAI-PREPAREDNESS-2023 | DEEPMIND-FSF-2024 | META-FRONTIER-2024 | UK-US-AISI-MOU-2024 | WH-VOLUNTARY-2023 | SG-MODEL-AI-2024 | JP-METI-AI-2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technological Sovereignty | implicit | governs | silent | implicit | governs | implicit | silent | silent | implicit | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | implicit | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | implicit | silent |
| Development-Rights Framings | silent | silent | silent | silent | implicit | silent | implicit | implicit | governs | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | governs | governs | implicit | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent |
| International Coordination | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | silent | governs | governs | silent | silent | silent | silent | governs | implicit | implicit | implicit | implicit | governs | implicit | governs | governs |
How to cite this article
APA 7
Policy Window. (2024). African Union Continental AI Strategy [Wiki article]. https://policywindow.org/wiki/au-continental-ai-strategy
Chicago 17
Policy Window. 2024. "African Union Continental AI Strategy." Wiki article. https://policywindow.org/wiki/au-continental-ai-strategy.
BibTeX
@misc{policywindow-au-continental-ai-strategy,
title = {African Union Continental AI Strategy},
author = {Policy Window},
year = {2024},
howpublished = {AU Continental AI Strategy (Executive Council 45th Ordinary Session)},
url = {https://policywindow.org/wiki/au-continental-ai-strategy},
note = {Primary source: https://au.int/en/documents/20240719/continental-artificial-intelligence-strategy}
}References
- AU Continental AI Strategy (Executive Council 45th Ordinary Session)
- AU Strategy §5 + Malabo Convention (2014) data-protection baseline
- AU Strategy §4 (continental compute + data infrastructure + skill-formation)
- AU Strategy §§1-3 (AI as continental development priority + data-coloniality framing)
- AU Strategy §6 (coordination with UN GA AI resolutions + AU-EU AI Working Group)
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