Western AI Rules for Everyone

In July 2024, African Union ministers gathered in Accra, Ghana for the 45th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council. Their agenda included a document that had been two years in the making: the Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy. When they endorsed it, something remarkable happened. Africa had, for the first time, articulated a collective vision for artificial intelligence governance that explicitly rejected the one-size-fits-all approach emanating from Brussels and Washington. The strategy called for “adapting AI to African realities,” with systems that “reflect our diversity, languages, culture, history, and geographical contexts.” Commissioner Amani Abou-Zeid, who leads the African Union's infrastructure and energy portfolio, framed the endorsement as both timely and strategic. The document represented years of expert consultations, technical committee reviews, and ministerial negotiations. It positioned Africa not as a passive recipient of global technology standards but