COMESA Holds AI and Digital Inclusion Consultations in Lilongwe

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) opened a series of consultations on artificial intelligence and digital inclusion in Lilongwe starting August 21, 2026, making Malawi the host for regional discussions on AI policy coordination among COMESA's member states.

The consultations brought together government officials, digital rights advocates, and private-sector representatives from across the COMESA bloc to discuss how member states might align approaches to AI regulation, cross-border data flows, and digital inclusion — an agenda item increasingly relevant as individual countries like Malawi, Namibia, and Mozambique proceed with their own national AI strategy processes on separate timelines.

Discussions in Lilongwe focused heavily on digital inclusion, reflecting concern among COMESA member states that AI adoption could widen existing gaps between urban and rural populations if infrastructure and skills investment do not keep pace with policy ambitions. Malawi's own AI Readiness Assessment, validated in Lilongwe less than a month earlier, fed directly into the discussion as a case study for the practical constraints many COMESA members face.

For Malawi, hosting the consultations offered visibility within a regional bloc whose 21 member states span a combined population of more than 580 million people, and gave local officials a platform to advocate for approaches that account for lower-connectivity environments rather than assuming uniform digital infrastructure across the bloc.

COMESA has not announced a binding regional AI framework as an outcome of the consultations, but participants described the Lilongwe sessions as an early step toward closer coordination among member states on AI governance issues.