This is a great stride in the right direction. Looking forward to your exploration of the Africa Tech Space.
A quick question, how do you plan on bringing the seeming lack of government collaboration with this type of project especially in some parts of Africa?
Thanks, Adebayo.
We are actively building relationships with our identified stakeholders and aim to leverage these connections to further our mission. In some cases, we will utilize existing engagement and networks, such as those established by the APET, Africa CDCs, or agencies at the national level, to drive our mission.
Impressive! A big "Weldone" to the TGov team. With your approach, dedication and achievement in just few months, I believe the TGov initiative will be a game-changer for Africa's emerging technologies governance.
However, I have two concerns running through my mind :
African Leaders are used to receiving policy recommendations but with little political will for implementation. How will you ensure your policy suggestions are really implemented?
Also, Are there any contingency plan perhaps for unforseen obstacles that can hinder TGovs work like Geopolitical crises in pilot countries, key personnel or team member departure? etc...
Thanks for your comments, Joseph. Regarding your raised points.
Our bio aspect focuses primarily on advisory policies, such as guidelines and protocols, rather than improving the local domestication of already established international standards. Our AI aspect is more about getting African stakeholders impactfully engaged in the global forum that defines redlines and boundaries, where their participation is currently lacking, resulting in significant gaps.
I think effective local domestication/implementation is a problem of its own.
Awesome!..
This post introduces the Tech Governance Project (TGov), a new nonprofit initiative for emerging technologies risk governance in Africa. The post presents our theory of change, progress, plans, and opportunities to get involved.
Africa has traditionally been overlooked and underrepresented in global catastrophic risk and emerging technologies governance. African institutions can be significant actors in these fields, for example, due to their expanding development in biotechnology and biocontainment research activities, initiatives on AI governance, and their role in broader international affairs. However, due to insufficient investment and initiative, opportunities to advance global catastrophic risk reduction and emerging technologies governance in Africa have not been fully realized. The Tech Governance Project (Tgov), a new nonprofit initiative, seeks to build a risk-conscious field of emerging technologies governance across Africa.
Like other countries worldwide, African states also grapple with adopting and using emerging technologies. However, a widespread governance gap and low capacity for managing AI systems are on the scale in the African region. 47 countries in Africa lack AI strategies and plans for balancing benefits and risks, while 29 countries lack laws on data protection; moreover, 28 countries lack biosafety laws, and responsible institutions are putting little emphasis on biorisk management. On the Global Biolabs project, African countries scored poorly in biosafety, biosecurity, dual-use research governance, and overall biorisk management. The GHS index indicates that over half of African countries are vulnerable to biological threats. These governance gaps in both AI and Bio emphasize the importance of robust governance to ensure that advances in AI and bio are harnessed responsibly to improve the quality of life and foster growth the continent aspires.
As these technologies are becoming more powerful, accessible, and affordable, the risks associated with them become a global problem. Countries with poor governance leave vulnerabilities that can have global implications. Governance Initiatives in Africa can provide valuable expertise for international governance efforts. This can lead to creating technologies that uplift communities, drive economic growth, and address challenges in a way that aligns with the continent's cultural and societal contexts. Supporting and ensuring governance in Africa is important because current trends show that countries in the region are not equipped to manage the risks emerging tech is posing due to low levels of awareness, capacity, and initiatives fostering commitment. By enhancing awareness, capability, and engagement with international efforts on risk governance of emerging technology in Africa. TGov will significantly impact and contribute immensely to preventing the harms of these emerging technologies.
Given the complex and unique challenges ahead of Africa due to rapid technological advancement, TGov is strategically positioned to improve awareness of risks and governance gaps, improve stakeholders' engagement with international governance efforts, and support them in devising effective governance. We aim to achieve our approach through the following key strategies:
Our theory of change outlines the high-level steps that will enable the project to have a significant impact.
Despite the widespread governance challenges and strategies for managing AI’s progress in Africa, a significant milestone was achieved with the recent continental AI strategy by the African Union (AU). The AU AI Strategy highlights the critical role of regional and international cooperation in Africa’s AI success and recommends active participation in global AI governance, ensuring Africa benefits from AI-driven growth while addressing shared risks. The continental strategy also mentioned several challenges limiting Africa’s ability to fully participate in global AI governance,[1] which include:
The AU strategy recognized the need for initiatives to enhance capacity building and increase the participation of African stakeholders in global AI forum discussions. At TGov, we believe that Africa's participation in the global AI governance dialogue can help to ensure the continent's unique challenges, opportunities, and perspectives are properly represented. Governance frameworks created without African input risk overlooking socio-economic contexts or even exploiting African resources and data without equitable benefit. By being part of the process from the outset, African countries can contribute to shaping the global standards that will directly affect their economies, societies, and technological sovereignty.
Our analysis of AI governance initiatives at the continental level reveals several key trends and focus areas deployed in the region for managing AI risks both at continental and national level. Major governance efforts across Africa emphasize data privacy, the prevention of bias and discrimination, and ensuring safety and security in civilian and military applications. There is also a focus on promoting inclusivity, with initiatives deeply rooted in African values.
However, some areas have received less attention. These include mitigating labor displacement through reskilling, improving public awareness and AI literacy, managing digital sovereignty to avoid digital colonialism, algorithmic bias, as well as evaluating the environmental impact of AI technologies.
Given the challenges and gaps, our scope, and potential comparative advantage, we think of our opportunity to contribute to the effort. At this stage, we are planning our initial AI governance effort in Africa in two ways:
Globally, effective management of biological risks is essential to safeguard public health and prevent catastrophic biological harms, and Africa is no exception. The rapid advancement in biotechnology is heightening the potential for biological threats, including emerging infectious diseases, and the risks associated with accidental or deliberate misuse of biological agents. This underscores the urgent need for robust biorisk management. Africa's unique ecological landscapes and its developmental and regulatory gaps phases create a complex environment for biosafety and biosecurity considerations. Strengthening governance frameworks across Africa is essential to safeguard public health and environmental security.
Effective bio-risks governance in Africa is crucial for several reasons, which include:
While efforts at regional and national levels make significant contributions to the biorisk governance in the continent, prominent challenges remain, including regulatory and capacity gaps, resource constraints, a lack of political will, and a low level of awareness and engagement.
At this stage, our plan is to address awareness, capacity, and regulatory gaps, focusing on the following areas:
We believe it's crucial to contribute to these areas because there has been a significant increase in advanced research conducted in maximum containment facilities across Africa. Countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Uganda have three or more BSL-3 labs dedicated to researching infectious pathogens with high-risk potential. However, there is a noticeable absence of regulatory frameworks guiding these facilities' establishment, operation, and handling of high-consequence pathogens. Additionally, as AI capabilities in biological synthesis and genetic engineering (which lower existing barriers to misuse and raise the ceiling of possible harm) are being increasingly adopted and advanced globally, including in Africa, the risk of misuse and production of biological harms is becoming more accessible, feasible, and effective (see Nelson and Rose, 2023, and Sandbrink, 2023).
We have conducted prioritization research on biocontainment research capacities and AI integration potential in Africa to understand African countries' capacities and help us prioritize our support. Countries were prioritized based on existing infrastructure and research capacities, international collaborations, the presence of regulatory institutions, and Global Health Security and International Health Regulations indexes, among other criteria.
We are fiscally sponsored by the Players Philanthropy Fund (PPF), a Maryland-based charitable trust that operates as a public charity in the United States. Our team brings diverse experience in non-profit management, research, policy development, communication, and stakeholder engagement. Zakariyau Yusuf leads the overall strategy and operations of the TGov, while Edward Turner leads stakeholder engagement, conducts policy analysis, and provides capacity support for research. Dhruvin Patel joined us as a researcher and is contributing to content development. Both Edward and Dhruvin are currently working part-time on the project.
We are constantly networking and deepening our relationships with communities, including this community's “Effective Altruism (EA),” academia, and Global Catastrophic Risk (GCR) actors. We aim to continue drawing upon these networks, relationships, our internal advisors, and volunteers to engage with our key target stakeholders in Africa and beyond and achieve our mission.
Our vision is a responsible technological development that empowers society and improves the quality of life for a brighter future. If you share this vision, there are several ways you can contribute:
See section 2.4.6.3 of the AU Continental AI Strategy: ‘Strengthen African Participation in Global AI Governance.’ https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/44004-doc-EN-_Continental_AI_Strategy_July_2024.pdf
Thank you so much for your efforts. I would like to ask for your opinion on international tech companies that exploit African resources and data without providing equitable benefits. How do you mitigate this? Do you work with African stakeholders, or hold these companies accountable?