Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy

Summary

A development-focused continental AI strategy with a focus area on minimising AI risks. It names bias and discrimination, disinformation and manipulation of political systems, surveillance, deepfakes, cyber threats and military uses, and calls for technical standards on the safety and security of AI systems. It recommends agile, risk-based regulation, AI governance bodies and independent oversight institutions in member states, a regional AI Ethics Board to review novel large-scale AI systems, impact assessments, transparency registers, red-teaming, a centre of excellence on AI safety and security and an annual AI safety and security conference.

Safety topics

Scope

Borderline scope Mainly a development strategy for harnessing AI's benefits, building capabilities and attracting investment, with minimising risks as one of its focus areas; included as the African Union's continental AI strategy, whose governance and safety recommendations are addressed to all member states.

Status notes

Adopted by the AU Executive Council at its 45th Ordinary Session in Accra, Ghana, on 18-19 July 2024; the AU document page is dated 9 August 2024. The foreword and executive summary speak of five focus areas and fifteen action areas, while section 2.4 lists six focus areas, the sixth being an inclusive governance and regulatory framework. Implementation is planned for 2025-2030: a first phase in 2025-2026, a mid-term review in 2027 and a second phase from 2028. The AU publishes the strategy in English, French, Arabic and Portuguese.

Sources

Open the official source https://au.int/en/documents/20240809/continental-artificial-intelligence-strategy

Secondary source: https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/44004-doc-EN-_Continental_AI_Strategy_July_2024.pdf

Local copy

Verification

History

1. 2026-10-18scope_note: – → Mainly a development strategy for harnessing AI's benefits, building capabilitie — added: a development strategy whose risk-minimising content is one focus area among five or six gets a scope_note under the general rule for strategies, as in recent rechecks (NO-01, PT-01, DE-02)2026-10-18-recheck-mena-africa-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
2. 2026-10-18notes: Endorsed by the AU Executive Council at its 45th Ordinary Session, Accra, 18-19 → Adopted by the AU Executive Council at its 45th Ordinary Session in Accra, Ghana — corrected: the strategy speaks of five focus areas in its foreword and executive summary but lists six in section 2.4; adds the 2025-2030 implementation phases and the language versions2026-10-18-recheck-mena-africa-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
3. 2026-10-18summary: A development-focused continental AI strategy with a focus area on minimising ri → A development-focused continental AI strategy with a focus area on minimising AI — rewritten from the strategy's text: adds the regional AI Ethics Board for novel large-scale systems, independent oversight institutions and the centre of excellence on AI safety and security; 'privacy' and 'election manipulation' replaced by the strategy's own wording2026-10-18-recheck-mena-africa-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
4. 2026-10-18language: English → Arabic, English, French, Portuguese — the AU page links English, French, Arabic and Portuguese texts of the strategy, and the French text is stored; listed alphabetically as for other intergovernmental records2026-10-18-recheck-mena-africa-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
5. 2026-10-14language: English (AU working languages) → English — The field held a remark after the language name; it now gives the language names only (AGENTS.md 5.6).manual-2026-10-14 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)

Related records

Ghana National AI Strategy 2025-2035 Ghana · Published (non-binding, current)

Ethiopia National AI Policy Ethiopia · Published (non-binding, current)

Zambia National AI Strategy Zambia · Published (non-binding, current)

Benin SNIAM 2023-2027 Benin · Published (non-binding, current)

Senegal National AI Strategy (SNIA, 2023) Senegal · Published (non-binding, current)

Citation

African Union Executive Council (45th Ordinary Session, Accra); African Union Commission. Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy. 2024-07. https://au.int/en/documents/20240809/continental-artificial-intelligence-strategy. Status: Published (non-binding, current); verified 2026-10-18 (level A). Local copy archive/AU-01/2026-10-18/official.html retrieved 2026-10-18 03:25:37 UTC, SHA-256 0949098baf822182da88e8d3fcd6128bd09745f0a8acd26e1eae756bfa85728a. Every AI Policy Ever, version 1.18 (snapshot 2026-10-18), record AU-01.

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