Abstract
This paper, authored by researchers and practitioners from Africa, maps the continent’s distinctive risk profile, from deep-fake–fuelled electoral interference and data-colonial dependency to compute scarcity, labour disruption and disproportionate exposure to climate-driven environmental costs. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are set to transform African economies, polities and ecosystems. While major benefits are promised to accrue, the availability, development and adoption of AI also mean that African people and countries face particular AI safety risks, from large-scale labour market disruptions to the nefarious use of AI to manipulate public opinion. To date, African perspectives have not been meaningfully integrated into global debates and processes regarding AI safety, leaving African stakeholders with limited influence over the emerging global AI-safety governance agenda. Analysing current national strategies and the new AU Continental AI Strategy, we identify severe gaps in technical capacity, governance and participation: only 26.8% of states measured showed any concrete activity on safety, accuracy or reliability. While there are Computer Incident Response Teams on the continent, none hosts a dedicated AI Safety Institute or office. We propose a five-point action plan centred on (i) a policy approach that foregrounds the protection of the human rights of those most vulnerable to experiencing the harmful socio-economic effects of AI; (ii) the establishment of an African AI Safety Institute; (iii) promote public AI literacy and awareness; (iv) development of early warning system with inclusive benchmark suites for 25+ African languages; and (v) an annual AU-level AI Safety & Security Forum.