The Policy Innovation Centre (PIC), in partnership with Africa Hub for Innovation & Development (AHFID), and supported by Luminate, has launched the Pan-African AI Ethics and Governance Fellowship, a flagship initiative aimed at strengthening African leadership and institutional capacity for ethical, inclusive, and accountable artificial intelligence governance.
The Fellowship comes at a critical moment as artificial intelligence continues to reshape governance, public services, and economic systems across Africa. While countries are increasingly adopting AI-driven solutions in sectors such as health, education, agriculture, and finance, concerns around algorithmic bias, data exploitation, weak accountability systems, and exclusion persist. Against this backdrop, the Fellowship is designed to equip a new generation of African leaders with the skills required to ensure that AI systems are developed and deployed in ways that reflect the continent’s values, priorities, and development needs.
Setting the tone for the programme, Dr. Osasuyi Dirisu, Executive Director of the Policy Innovation Centre PIC) highlighted the diversity of expertise in the cohort and encouraged fellows to see themselves as co-creators of knowledge rather than passive learners. She described the Fellowship as an opportunity for Africans to shape AI development intentionally:
“This Fellowship is designed to move beyond conversations on AI and focus on building practical governance capacity across African institutions. We are raising the next generation of African leaders who will sit at the intersection of AI system development in Africa and ensure that these systems are inclusive, ethical, and serve the public good.”
The 12-week virtual programme will bring together over 50 mid-to-senior level professionals from across Africa, with representation from government, regulatory agencies, civil society, academia, media, and the private sector. Through a combination of virtual learning, expert-led sessions, policy labs, and mentorship sessions, participants will develop practical governance tools, including policy frameworks, audit mechanisms, and accountability systems tailored to African contexts.
Dr. Kunle Kakanfo, CEO of the Africa Hub for Innovation & Development (AHFID), a key partner on the programme, added that the fellowship is about both leadership development and relationship-building across Africa. He said, “The fellowship for us is not just about leadership development in AI ethics and governance, it’s also about making significant connections, cross-country networks, and being able to crossbreed experience. This fellowship would be a catalytic platform that is able to help us drive the needed change that we need within AI ethics and governance, on the continent”
Speaking at the launch, Dr. Olubunmi Ajala, National Director, National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) described the fellowship as Africa’s deliberate response to the global AI revolution. “This is a deliberate, organised, and urgent response of Africa to one of the most consequential technological revolutions in human history. If we don’t do what we need to do in terms of governance and ethics, the problems will go beyond technology failures, and some of the damages could be colossal”
Further reinforcing the programme’s relevance, participants in the Fellowship have also expressed strong expectations for the programme. Ayobola Adedayo, Head of Product at Auto Check Africa from Nigeria, said she hopes to deepen her understanding of AI policy and governance and contribute to shaping how AI evolves across Nigeria and the continent. Similarly, Carol Odero, a tech journalist from Kenya, said that she has engaged with innovators who believe AI should remain largely unregulated due to its early stage. “I have spent a lot of time with innovators who think that AI should be left to run wild, that it is not something to govern, because it is still so new. But I would like to show them that there is a different path, and I’m hoping to get that out of the fellowship.”
Looking ahead, the Fellowship is expected to contribute to a growing network of African AI governance practitioners, strengthen policy influence across institutions, and support the development of more accountable and inclusive AI systems across the continent. It also positions Nigeria and its partners at the forefront of advancing AI ethics and governance in Africa and contributing to global conversations on the future of technology and society.
About the Policy Innovation Centre (PIC)
The Policy Innovation Centre (PIC) is the first national institutionalised behavioural initiative in Africa supporting government and stakeholders to make behaviourally informed decisions and generate evidence for impact-driven interventions across critical thematic areas. PIC is an initiative of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), a leading African think tank advancing evidence-based policy advocacy.
Guardian.ng
