Update |
Every year, the event brings together activists, innovators, and decision-makers to explore how Bitcoin safeguards fundamental freedoms, strengthens economic autonomy, and paves the way for lasting sovereignty. The event is taking place between December 3-5, 2025, at Caudan Arts Centre, Port Louis, Mauritius.
Click here for information on the event.
Update |
This year, the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) is holding its first Summit in the context of its new 10-year Strategic Plan (2025-2035), Nairobi, Kenya. The three-day Summit themed ‘A Renewed AERC for Africa’s New Development Priorities’, is designed to hardwire the research-policy bridge.
This event is taking place from November 30 to December 02, 2025. For more information, click here.
By Nadhifah Muhamad |
The fourth edition of the African Business and Human Rights (ABHR) Forum was held from October 7-9, 2025, in Lusaka, Zambia, under the theme “From Commitment to Action: Advancing Remedy, Reparations and Responsible Business Conduct in Africa.”
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) participated in a session titled “Leveraging National Action Plans and Voluntary Disclosure to Foster a Responsible Tech Ecosystem,” convened by the B-Tech Africa Project under the United Nations Human Rights Office and the Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF). The session discussed the integration of digital governance and voluntary initiatives like the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Company Disclosure Initiative (AICDI) into National Action Plans (NAPs) on business and human rights. That integration would encourage companies to uphold their responsibility to respect human rights through ensuring transparency and internal accountability mechanisms.
According to Nadhifah Muhammad, Programme Officer at CIPESA, Africa’s participation in global AI research and development is estimated only at 1%. This is deepening inequalities and resulting in a proliferation of AI systems that barely suit the African context. In law enforcement, AI-powered facial recognition for crime prevention was leading to arbitrary arrests and unchecked surveillance during periods of unrest. Meanwhile, employment conditions for platform workers on the continent, such as OpenAI ChatGPT workers in Kenya, were characterised by low pay and absence of social welfare protections.
To address these emerging human rights risks, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, Member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, encouraged African states to integrate ethical AI governance frameworks in NAPs. He cited Chile, Costa Rica and South Korea’s frameworks as examples in striking a balance between rapid innovation and robust guardrails that prioritise human dignity, oversight, transparency and equity in the regulation of high-risk AI systems.
For instance, Chile’s AI policy principles call for AI centred on people’s well-being, respect for human rights, and security, anchored on inclusivity of perspectives for minority and marginalised groups including women, youth, children, indigenous communities and persons with disabilities. Furthermore, it states that the policy “aims for its own path, constantly reviewed and adapted to Chile’s unique characteristics, rather than simply following the Northern Hemisphere.”
Relatedly, Dr. Akinwumi Ogunranti from the University of Manitoba commended the Ghana NAP for being alive to emerging digital technology trends. The plan identifies several human rights abuses and growing concerns related to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector and online security, although it has no dedicated section on AI.
NAPs establish measures to promote respect for human rights by businesses, including conducting due diligence and being transparent in their operations. In this regard, the AI Company Disclosure Initiative (AICDI) supported by TRF and UNESCO aims to build a dataset on corporate AI adoption so as to drive transparency and promote responsible business practices. According to Elizabeth Onyango from TRF, AICDI helps businesses to map their AI use, harness opportunities and mitigate operational risk. These efforts would complement states’ efforts by encouraging companies to uphold their responsibility to respect human rights through voluntary disclosure. The Initiative has attracted about 1,000 companies, with 80% of them publicly disclosing information about their work. Despite the progress, Onyango added that the initiative still grapples with convincing some companies to embrace support in mitigating the risks of AI.
To ensure NAPs contribute to responsible technology use by businesses, states and civil society organisations were advised to consider developing an African Working Group on AI, collaboration and sharing of resources to support local digital startups for sustainable solutions, investment in digital infrastructure, and undertaking robust literacy and capacity building campaigns of both duty holders and right bearers. Other recommendations were the development of evidence-based research to shape the deployment of new technologies and supporting underfunded state agencies that are responsible for regulating data protection.
The Forum was organised by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Business and Human Rights and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Other organisers included the African Union, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UN Global Compact. It brought together more than 500 individuals from over 75 countries – 32 of them African. The event was a buildup on the achievements of the previous Africa ABHR Forums in Ghana (2022), Ethiopia (2023) and Kenya (2024).
Event |
The AU-NEPAD and GIZ in collaboration with CIPESA are pleased to convene this three-day capacity-building and stakeholder engagement workshop to support the Government of Uganda in its data governance journey.
The three-day workshop will focus on providing insights into data governance and the transformative potential of data to drive equitable socio-economic development, empower citizens, safeguard collective interests, and protect digital rights in Uganda. This will include aspects on foundational infrastructure, data value creation and markets, legitimate and trustworthy data systems, data standards and categorisation, and data governance mechanisms.
Participants will critically evaluate regulatory approaches, institutional frameworks, and capacity-building strategies necessary to harnessing the power of data for socio-economic transformation and regional integration, in line with the African Union Data Policy Framework.
The workshop will take place from November 19th to 21st, 2025.
By Patricia Ainembabazi |
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) participated in the annual DataFest Africa event held on 30-31 October, 2025. Hosted by Pollicy, the event serves to celebrate data use in Africa by bringing together various stakeholders from diverse backgrounds, such as government, civil society, donors, academics, students, and private industry experts, under one roof and theme. The event provided a timely platform to advance discussions on how Africa can harness AI and data-driven systems in ways that centre human rights, accountability, and social impact.
CIPESA featured in various sessions at the event, one of which was the launch of the ‘Made in Africa AI for Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL)’ Landscape Study by the MERL Tech Initiative. At the session, CIPESA provided reflections on the role of AI in development across several humanitarian sectors in Africa.
CIPESA’s contributions complemented insights from the study that explored African approaches to AI in data-driven evidence systems and which emphasised responsive and inclusive design, contextual relevance, and ethical deployment. The Study resonated with insights from the CIPESA 2025 State of Internet Freedom in Africa report, which highlights the role of AI as Africa navigates digital democracy.
According to the CIPESA report, AI technologies hold significant potential to improve civic engagement, extend access to public services, scale multilingual communication tools, and support fact-checking and content moderation. On the flip side, the MERL study also underscores the risks posed by AI systems that lack robust governance frameworks, including increased surveillance capacity, algorithmic bias, the spread of misinformation, and deepening digital exclusion. The aforementioned risks and challenges pose major concerns regarding readiness, accountability, and institutional capacity, given the nascent and fragmented legal and regulatory landscape for AI in the majority of African countries..
Sam Kuuku, Head of the GIZ-African Union AI Made in Africa Project, noted that it is important for countries and stakeholders to reflect on how well Africa can measure the impact of AI and evaluate the role and potential of AI use in improving livelihoods across the continent. He further reiterated the value of various European Union (EU) frameworks in providing useful guidance for African countries seeking to develop AI policies that promote both innovation and safety, to ensure that technological developments align with public interest, legal safeguards, and global standards.
The session was underscored by the need for African governments and stakeholders to benchmark global regulatory practices that are grounded in human rights principles for progressive adoption and deployment of AI. CIPESA pointed out the EU AI Act of 2024, which offers a structured and risk-based model that categorises AI systems according to the level of potential harm and establishes controls for transparency, safety, and non-discrimination.
Key considerations for labour rights, economic justice, and the future of work were highlighted, particularly in relation to the growing role of African data annotators and platform workers within global AI supply chains. Investigations into outsourced data labelling, such as the case of Kenyan workers contracted by tech platforms to train AI models under precarious economic conditions, underlie the need for stronger labour protections and ethical AI sourcing practices. Through platforms such as DataFest Africa, there is a growing community dedicated towards shaping a forward-looking narrative in which AI is not only applied to solve African problems but is also developed, regulated, and critiqued by African actors. The pathway to an inclusive and rights-respecting digital future will rely on working collectively to embed accountability, transparency, and local expertise within emerging AI and data governance frameworks.