A new milestone for artificial intelligence in Africa with the first UNESCO affiliated centre

Two years in the making, a new milestone was reached with the official signing of the tripartite agreement between UNESCO, the Government of Morocco and AI Movement.

The High-Level Forum was held under the theme "AI as a Lever for Development in Africa". It brought together judges, parliamentarians, government officials, representatives of private sector and civil society, as well as artists across Africa to discuss strategies, policies, opportunities and risks related to AI in the African context. Experts shared best practices and state of the art AI developments in Africa while networking with their peers.

Following two days of discussions, participants adopted the African Consensus on Artificial Intelligence: A Call to Action with three founding principles:

• Working towards a common framework for global and inclusive AI governance;
• Harnessing AI in the public sector and in the service of the African common good;
• Ensuring the ethical and human rights-based development and use of AI in the service of all.

Some of the key recommendations from the discussions include building infrastructure as a priority to support the further development of AI, preventing brain drain from Africa, creating and expanding African language datasets, facilitating partnerships and international cooperation, fostering innovation, promoting digital literacy for all and building capacity for key stakeholders.

UNESCO will be working with AI Movement on strengthening capacities of African civil servants on AI and digital transformation with the goal of training 5,000 persons over the next three years.