Pan-African AI Summit to push for homegrown AI regulations, local data training

By Kingsley Webora TANKEH

Amid ethical concerns around the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and potential loss, organiser of the upcoming Pan-African AI Summit Mr. Felix Donkor has revealed that the summit will push for creating homegrown regulatory frameworks in Africa that ensure AI Machine Learning Models are trained with local data to better serve Africans.

Speaking exclusively to B&FT, Mr. Donkor said it is high time Africa stopped the blind adoption approach to technology. He called for foreign systems and technologies that are not built with Africa’s unique contexts in mind to be fine-tuned. According to him, tailoring these systems will promote oversight and local development.

“We have to align global best practices with our culture, our humanity, our people, our systems, our processes, our regulations and then make them our own,” he emphasised. He stressed that for AI to be effective and ethical in Africa, it must import models trained on African data – not foreign.

“We have to use local data to build local solutions,” he added, calling for the development and training of AI machine learning models (MLs) on information that reflects the languages, cultures and realities of the African people, rather than relying on systems designed for the west.

To this end, the Pan-African AI Summit 2025 – first of its kind – will gather technocrats, policymakers, government officials, representatives from tech giants including Google, Microsoft, IBM and Meta to forge a forward-looking partnership to regulate the “double-edged sword”.

The summit will take place from September 23 to September 24 in Accra.

Cognisant of the risks associated with AI, including the potential for AI to be used for misinformation, voice-cloning and fraud, Mr. Donkor is urging governments to take the bull by the horns by establishing regulatory bodies akin to those that oversee other critical industries.

“If you wanted to set up a telecoms company, which authority gives you a licence? Or even an FM station? It’s the same thing,” he asserted, drawing a direct parallel with AI. He therefore urged government to establish a regulatory authority that oversees use and regulation of the nascent technology.

He proposed that any company developing AI solutions for the Ghanaian or African market must have their codes and models “approved or overlooked by some form of commission or authority” before being released for public use, similar to the processes overseen by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).

However, he warned that the regulation should be done without stifling innovation – rather creating guardrails that allow for safe growth. Without these, Mr. Donkor warned, Africa risks being left behind or becoming a vulnerable target for bad actors.

He stressed that the call for regulation is not about stifling innovation but about creating guardrails that allow for safe growth. Without them, he warned, Africa risks being left behind or becoming a vulnerable target for bad actors.

“People who don’t abide by laws, rules and regulations will take over – and they will use AI to do evil. That is why we are doing this. We can’t say we are in Africa so we do what we want,” he added.

The  Pan-African AI Summit 2025 will serve as a platform for this pertinent national and continental conversation on AI, bringing together local regulators from the Bank of Ghana and National Insurance Commission, continent regulators and global tech giants  to discuss practical steps for building a responsible and locally-rooted AI future for Africa.

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