In conjunction with the start of the UK’s AI Safety Summit, the UK government is teaming up with global partners to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence in Africa.

Along with Canada, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the US, and partners across the continent of Africa, the UK is helping to fund a £80m boost in AI programming aiming to combat inequality and boost prosperity.

The goals of the UK government’s AI for Development programme range from creating or scaling at least eight responsible AI research labs at African universities, to helping at least ten countries create sound regulatory frameworks for responsible, equitable, and safe AI.

Further, the initiative wants to unlock the benefits of AI to the 700 million people who speak 46 African languages – as a continent, Africa is home to around 2,000 languages, making up a third of the world’s total languages.

The programme also aims to make five or more African countries globally influential in the worldwide conversation on AI including in using AI to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Africa is one of the world’s most diverse continents, with 54 countries and over 3,000 ethnic groups. Through slavery, colonisation, and decolonisation tactics, much of the country has been robbed of its natural resources, wealth, cultural history, and autonomy.

The initiative will initially focus on sub-Saharan Africa, aiming to ensure that this ground-breaking technology will be accessible to all.

AI could have a transformative impact on a range of challenges, including speeding up drug discovery, helping people who are deaf or blind access education, and improving access to clean energy.

Over the next five years, the programme aims to fund training and fellowships in AI across African universities and invest in innovators building models with data that accurately represents the African continent, using home-grown skills and computing power.

While the UK continues to grapple with its own regulatory woes about AI, the programme also hopes to foster responsible AI governance to help African countries mitigate the risks of AI and adapt their economies to technological change.

The programme is also part of wider aims, hoping to help sub-Sahara African countries have a bigger voice in influencing how AI is used to further the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, a series of targets to make the world a healthier, fairer and more prosperous place by 2030.

At the UK’s own summit today, one civil organisation, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, and three countries – Kenya, Nigeria, and Rwanda – are set to represent Africa as confirmed attendees.

“The transformative power of AI should have a global benefit. AI can change lives for the better around the world, including helping to develop new treatments for diseases and to tackle food insecurity,” James Cleverly, the UK foreign secretary said.

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“The AI for Development programme, alongside the AI Safety Summit hosted in Britain this week, are a testament to how we and our partners will use cutting-edge technology to create a more equitable and prosperous future.”

Eliud Owallo, Kenya’s cabinet secretary for information communications and digital economy said: “Through this broad coalition of partners, AI potential benefits will open opportunities and the risks preparedness broadened. This partnership will benefit all countries and ensure that developing countries are not left behind in the AI revolution.”

Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s minister of information communication technology and innovation said: “Africa has historically lagged behind in previous technological revolutions due to a lack of local production and value addition capacity. Rwanda is fully committed to harnessing the transformative power of AI to drive our nation’s and continent’s social and economic development agenda by becoming the proof of concept hub that Africans produce from, for the continent.

“This collaborative initiative is of paramount importance as it empowers African countries to become producers, not just consumers, in the AI revolution, ensuring that we are at the forefront of shaping our own future and driving sustainable progress across the continent.”