Overview

The African continent has been excluded in the conversation of how AI can be governed at a global level, how governments are implementing policies to monitor applications and uses of AI, or how tech and companies of the global North are impacting global south economies and societies in the building of modern technologies.

Without a holistic and contextual approach to AI, AI policies on the continent can continue to further entrench the inequalities already present and in so doing further complicates the socio-economic development of the continent. Of these inequalities, this research is most concerned with how regional AI policy, on a continental and regional level, can address gender inequality.

The research will be conducted through a textual analysis of African regional policies on AI. It will analyse the policies for how they frame gender and AI with regards to three things: access to ICTs, data protection, and development initiatives. This project will suggest policy options and make recommendations on how African continental and regional bodies can create policy that adequately considers gender inequality.