The global race to develop artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating, driven by the promise of transformative benefits across sectors. AI is no longer a futuristic concept, it is already being deployed in education, manufacturing, finance, healthcare, and beyond. However, a report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) reveals a striking gap: 118 countries have not participated in any global AI governance discussions, and over 80 per cent still lack a national AI policy. The New Times’ Business Editor Julius Bizimungu spoke to Bilel Jamoussi, Deputy Director of Telecommunication Standardization Policy Department at the ITU Standardization Bureau to unpack what Africa can do to play a meaningful agenda in the AI development journey. Below are excerpts: How can African nations take a more assertive role in shaping the global AI agenda, beyond just receiving policy support? Africa is starting to make significant progress in involvement in multilateral forums. A good example is the recent Global AI Summit on Africa held in Kigali. To further address the historical exclusion of African countries from global AI governance dialogues, reforms and innovations are essential to ensure equitable participation and representation. The African Union's (AU) Continental AI Strategy, launched in 2024, provides a foundation for aligning AI development with broader goals such as Agenda 2063. This strategy emphasises regulatory cohesion, infrastructure development, and building essential skills for AI innovation across the continent. Institutions like Smart Africa and AI4D Africa are advancing AI governance, but a dedicated continental body focused solely on AI governance, research, and innovation could further unify stakeholders and harmonise policies. Inclusive AI governance requires the involvement of diverse stakeholders, including governments, private sector actors, academia, and civil society. The Southern African Sub-Regional Forum on Artificial Intelligence (SARFAI) highlighted the importance of such multistakeholder approaches in policy formulation. An example of practical engagement is the AI for Good Impact Africa (October 2025), the second regional AI for Good Impact event dedicated to fostering innovation and partnerships within the AI for Good landscape. The event aims to provide a collaborative platform for knowledge sharing and the promotion of AI solutions to solve global challenges. Developing technical standards and building local capacity are crucial for effective AI governance. The ITU emphasises the importance of aligning AI frameworks with UN norms and values, including human rights and inclusion. Capacity building initiatives can empower African nations to actively participate in AI governance and ensure that AI technologies are accessible and affordable worldwide. To ensure that AI development is inclusive, it is essential to address the digital exclusion of the Global South. In Africa, the lack of commercially available computing power, limited funding for local organizations, and scarce data sets hinder the development of AI solutions tailored to local languages and contexts. Collaborative efforts, such as those by the African AI Network, aim to develop African language solutions and bridge the digital divide. Is there a risk that AI policies might become symbolic rather than transformative? To ensure that AI strategies in African nations are not merely symbolic but transformative, it's crucial to establish mechanisms that facilitate effective implementation and contextual relevance. A foundational step is the adoption of a multistakeholder approach, involving governments, the private sector, civil society, and academia. This inclusive process ensures that AI policies reflect diverse perspectives and address local needs. The development of AI governance frameworks tailored to Africa's unique contexts is essential. The African Union's Continental AI Strategy provides guidance for countries to harness AI for development, promoting ethical use and minimizing risks. This strategy emphasizes the need for AI systems that reflect Africa's diversity, languages, cultures, and geographical contexts. Additionally, building institutional capacity is vital. ITU supports African nations in developing digital transformation strategies, enhancing regulatory frameworks, and fostering human and institutional capacity building. These efforts are crucial for creating an environment conducive to AI adoption and innovation To prevent AI policies from becoming symbolic, it's imperative to establish mechanisms for monitoring and accountability. This includes setting clear objectives, timelines, and performance indicators to track progress. Regular assessments and adjustments ensure that AI strategies remain relevant and effective in addressing evolving challenges and opportunities. How do we ensure that infrastructure investments benefit communities, not just commercial interests? Africa's infrastructure deficit significantly hampers its readiness for artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. The overall physical infrastructure financing gap in Africa is about $170 billion per year, according to the African Development Bank. Africa’s computing and data storage capacity also remains critically underdeveloped, accounting for only 1% of the world’s total capacity. ITU and other stakeholders have identified innovative financing models—such as public-private partnerships (PPPs) and regional digital funds—as pivotal in bridging this connectivity gap. The ITU's Partner2Connect Action Framework emphasizes the importance of innovative financing in achieving universal meaningful connectivity. This includes blended finance approaches that combine public and private capital, as well as instruments like green and blue bonds, which are tailored for environmentally sustainable infrastructure projects. Such models are essential in mobilising the substantial investments required for digital infrastructure across Africa. Through our Partner2Connect Digital Coalition, ITU is working to mobilise the investment needed for digital infrastructure to support meaningful connectivity in Africa and beyond. The majority of P2C pledges — over 350 commitments valued at more than $38 billion — list Africa as a region of implementation. To ensure that infrastructure investments serve communities equitably, several strategies are recommended, including developing clear policies and regulatory frameworks, capacity building and technical assistance, as well as involving local communities in the planning and implementation phases. Affordability remains a major barrier to digital inclusion in Africa. Should there be a global push to treat internet and smartphones as public goods or human rights? Affordable connectivity is a prerequisite in our journey towards universal and meaningful connectivity. Affordability of ICT services is defined as the cost of an established minimum combination of telecommunication services (the usage of Internet data, voice calls, text messaging) relative to a given income. The United Nations Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development’s Broadband Advocacy Target 2 calls for broadband to be affordable by 2025, with entry-level broadband services in low- and middle-income countries at less than 2 per cent of monthly gross national income (GNI) per capita. Out of 188 economies for which data is available, a record 114 economies met this target in 2023, up from 103 in 2022. The ITU Focus Group on Cost Models for affordable data services has considered the policy, economic and fiscal incentives to achieve the affordability goal to ensure a Universal Meaningful Connectivity. The report on Policy, Economic and Fiscal incentives studied the various measures such as Universal Service Fund, infrastructure sharing, economic interventions, fiscal incentives and other related measures for affordable connectivity that have been implemented in a number of countries. Telecom services are an important input into productivity and growth of any economy. On the other hand, given their formal sector status and growing turnovers, governments in various developing countries consider it as a good source of revenue. It is important to ensure a balance between the two aspects/schools of thought to ensure that digitalization reaches every part of the economy. The telecom sector, like most other sectors in the economy, faces a number of government levies. While some of these are in the nature of user charges or fees for getting access to scarce spectrum resources, the others are in the form of taxes on the inputs used by this sector as well on the services provided by this sector. Further, in the face of the emerging nature of the sector – where the services provided are expanding at a rapid pace – there is a continuously evolving scheme of taxation as well. Tax incentives for telecom operators are a key tool for reducing financial barriers to network expansion. Governments provide tax exemptions on telecom devices (e.g. removal of taxes on telecom handsets) and network equipment, reductions, or credits to encourage telecom investments, particularly in underserved areas. Tax holidays and capital expenditure deductions have proven effective in stimulating large-scale broadband rollouts. One of the policy measures, which has helped in reducing the prices of telecom services, is the sharing of infrastructure. ITU proposes a set of possible methods to help telecommunication providers save costs and enhance efficiency through the shared uses of the telecommunication infrastructure, including passive and active infrastructure sharing, and including when enabled by aggregation of frequency bands assigned to operators who have acquired property rights over the spectrum to enable active infrastructure sharing implementation. Infrastructure sharing can lead to cost reductions for network deployment and operation, to an increase in quality of telecommunication services and their availability levels, as well as to increased competition and lowering of tariffs for telecommunication services.
