Smart Africa, a pan-African initiative, has demonstrated remarkable foresight through the establishment of the African AI Council. This strategic move has the potential to reshape the trajectory of the African continent. This council includes stakeholders from government, private sectors, and AI experts from civil society and academia. “The establishment of the Africa AI Council marks a significant step towards realizing Africa’s potential in the AI-driven global economy,” said Lacina Koné, CEO of Smart Africa. “AI is not just technology to us, it’s an African arrow that, when thrown with the right ethical frameworks and inclusive policies, can pierce the way to African digital prosperity and resilience for the benefit of every citizen.”

The Africa Council will serve as a catalyst in accelerating digital transformation and enhancing economic competitiveness by working in synergy with the ongoing national and continental efforts. By aligning and boosting this initiative, the Council aims to unlock the vast potential to accelerate growth and foster inclusive AI transformation across Africa. 

Smart Africa was launched in 2013 in Kigali, Rwanda at the Transform Africa Summit alongside seven African Heads of State (Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan, Mali, Gabon, and Burkina Faso). Where they were committed to providing knowledge of the economy through the usage of ICT. 

While AI-powered tools continue to evolve, many existing implementations lack genuine multi-modal capabilities, seamless integration, and contextual awareness. They also expose users to risks which include: data breaches, sophisticated social engineering attacks, unauthorized access to confidential information, adversarial AI manipulation, biased decision making, and government overreach through excessive data collection. 

These risks can be mitigated through the establishment of strong data protection laws, enforcement of cybersecurity measures, and adoption of AI transparency and accountability fairness. As the fastest growing workforce in the world, Africa is well positioned to benefit tremendously from the productivity gains brought about by AI technologies. These AI technologies can serve as a catalyst for unlocking and driving innovations, resulting in a workforce capable of serving Africa and the rest of the world.

In similar news, Nigeria’s government recently launched an AI-powered tool, Service-Wise GPT, to modernize and enhance the efficiency of the public sector. Unveiled at the Global Government Summit, the tool aims to improve service delivery and productivity across ministries by streamlining administrative tasks, reducing task hours for civil servants, improving compliance and regulatory adherence, and facilitating faster decision-making. 

The emergence of Service-Wise GPT, introduced at the Global Government Summit 2025 held in Singapore, aims to aid in automating policy drafting and official memos while offering real-time policy research assistance in the following sectors: Public Sector and Administration, Agriculture, Healthcare, Education, and Law Enforcement. The overall goal is to use AI to enhance government operations and improve service delivery to citizens. 

While Service-Wise GPT represents a significant step forward in digitizing Nigeria’s public sector, the introduction of AI assistants into government processes raises legitimate privacy concerns. The collection and analysis of sensitive data by AI systems could potentially lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, and misuse of personal information. Striking a balance between innovation and data protection will be crucial for this new development to improve service delivery.

The successful implementation of Service-Wise GPT could lead to a transformative shift in the efficiency and effectiveness of Nigeria’s civil service. By automating routine tasks, AI can free up civil servants to focus on more complex and strategic responsibilities. Sectors that stand to benefit significantly from this increased efficiency include healthcare, education, and law enforcement, where streamlined processes and data-driven insights can lead to improved service delivery and better outcomes for citizens.

SOURCES

• https://techpoint.africa/2025/01/30/nigeria-launches-ai-service-wise-gpt/
• https://cioafrica.co/africa-ai-council-launches-to-drive-continents-ai-innovation/
• https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/gb/security/news/security-technology/