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AU Commissioner Calls For AI That Reflects Africa's Languages And Priorities
At the Forward Africa Leaders Symposium, the African Union’s infrastructure and energy commissioner argued that Africa must build AI for its own realities rather than remain only a technology market.
By Muhammad Faaleh Sookye · 4 October 2026 · Event: 3 October 2026 · 1 min read
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The African Union's Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy has called for artificial intelligence that reflects Africa's realities, languages and development priorities. Speaking at the Forward Africa Leaders Symposium, Lerato Dorothy Mataboge placed local ownership at the centre of the continent's AI debate.
The argument is familiar, but its importance is growing as governments and businesses adopt systems built elsewhere. Africa accounts for a small share of global compute and AI talent, which makes it easier for local institutions to become users of imported tools rather than participants in the decisions that shape them.
A locally relevant approach involves more than training a model with African examples. It includes access to compute, usable datasets, language resources, research capacity and procurement rules that allow African developers to compete. It also requires institutions that can evaluate systems for accuracy, safety and usefulness in local contexts.
The commissioner’s intervention connects AI infrastructure to development policy. If digital systems are meant to improve public services, education, health or industrial productivity, they need to reflect the people who will use them. Language is one part of that equation; affordability, connectivity and trust are others.
The practical question is what follows the speeches. Continental ambition will need funding, shared benchmarks and programmes that move from principles to deployments. Africa does not need to build every layer of the AI stack alone, but it does need enough capability to choose, adapt and govern the systems on which its institutions increasingly depend.
Source: Original source.
That is why the debate should be judged by what it enables on the ground. A locally relevant AI programme should leave behind datasets, skills, evaluation tools and institutions that can continue working when a grant or partnership ends. The continent's negotiating position will be stronger when those capabilities are visible in public services, research centres and African businesses.