The OpenSchool Initiative has concluded its Pan-African AI Governance Fellowship Programme, with 55 professionals from 22 African countries graduating after a four-month intensive training.
The programme, delivered in partnership with Cosmopolitan University and other institutions, aimed to strengthen Africa’s capacity to regulate and oversee artificial intelligence systems.
Over 800 applications were received from across the continent, with over 70 participants selected through a competitive process.
The fellows engaged with key policy areas, including algorithmic accountability and public-sector AI procurement safeguards, and developed capstone projects featuring draft national AI policy frameworks.
The programme comes as African policymakers emphasise the need for governance frameworks tailored to the continent’s legal systems and economic structures.
The co-led engineer, from Voice of Nigeria (VON) Abba Muhammad Gadanya, said that, “Africa must not remain a consumer of artificial intelligence. We must become architects of its governance.”
The closing ceremony featured a keynote address by Catherine Muraga, Managing Director of Microsoft Africa Development Center.
The OpenSchool Initiative aims to establish a distributed governance network to contribute to national and regional AI policy development.
