Intelligent Cause Prioritisation? An Analysis of AI Policy Priorities and Governance in Africa

African governments prioritize AI's economic benefits over safety concerns: While African policymakers actively promote AI adoption for economic transformation, the paper finds they devote "comparatively little attention to AI safety" despite the continent's unique vulnerabilities as a primary consumer rather than producer of AI systems.

Africa's "catch-up imperative" may create governance blind spots: The pressure to rapidly adopt AI for development creates a policy environment where governments emphasize opportunity over risk mitigation, potentially leaving the continent exposed to harms that more cautious regulators elsewhere might anticipate and prevent.

Africa is underrepresented in global AI governance discussions: The paper highlights that Africa "remains relatively overlooked" in international AI policy debates, partly because the continent is not a major frontier AI developer—meaning African voices and interests may be absent when critical decisions about AI's future are made at the global level.

Policy analysis reveals a gap between stated priorities and safety focus: By examining official government speeches, strategies, and frameworks across African nations, the research demonstrates that while economic opportunity features prominently in public statements, concrete safety governance measures receive minimal attention.

Development challenges may be crowding out AI governance capacity: The paper suggests that many African countries' "pressing development challenges" compete for limited policy attention and resources, potentially explaining why comprehensive AI safety frameworks lag behind in the region despite growing AI deployment.