Kenyan President Dr. William Ruto has urged African countries to take a more active role in developing and governing Artificial Intelligence (AI). Speaking at the high-level AI Middle Powers (AIM) Coalition meeting on Shared Sovereignty in the AI era, Ruto warned that technological dependence could undermine national sovereignty. He emphasized that Africa must move beyond consuming AI technologies to developing, owning, and shaping systems that reflect its languages, economies, and social realities.
Ruto noted that AI is rapidly changing the distribution of economic and technological power, with countries increasingly depending on computing power, advanced chips, data systems, AI models, and technological standards that they may not own or control. He stressed that political sovereignty without technological agency risks becoming sovereignty in law but dependency in practice. The president called for greater cooperation among middle powers in areas where individual countries cannot efficiently develop the entire AI value chain while retaining national control over matters requiring accountability.
The president described this approach as shared sovereignty, saying cooperation should strengthen rather than diminish the ability of countries to make independent decisions. Ruto placed Africa's role at the centre of the discussion, noting that the continent has significant natural resources, a growing digital economy, a young population, and a pool of skilled professionals that can contribute to the development of AI. However, he expressed concern that African languages, contexts, and institutions remain under-represented in technologies increasingly influencing education, healthcare, commerce, and public discourse.
Ruto pointed to Kenya's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy as part of the country's efforts to build capacity in the sector. The strategy focuses on digital infrastructure, data and AI governance, research, innovation, and commercialization. He said Kenya intends to harness AI to improve agricultural productivity, strengthen healthcare, expand access to education, improve public services, advance financial inclusion, and create enterprises and jobs.
The president stressed that meaningful participation in the AI economy requires more than access to applications, noting the importance of computing capacity, data, energy, and skilled human resources. He identified compute infrastructure, trusted data ecosystems, research, skills development, multilingual AI models, and public-sector capacity as areas where middle powers could work together. Ruto also called on countries with abundant renewable energy to host computing infrastructure, support research, and develop businesses around the technology.
According to Ruto, the AI Middle Powers Initiative will provide a voluntary framework for countries to mobilise financing, expand trusted infrastructure, and develop the human and institutional capacity required to build, adapt, evaluate, and govern AI. He stressed that technological advancement must also be accompanied by safeguards against misinformation, deepfakes, cyber threats, and harmful AI-generated content. Ruto further called for the United Nations to remain central to global AI governance.
Ruto maintained that Africa was seeking partnerships rather than charity, while middle powers should cooperate without isolating themselves from the wider global system. He warned that the foundations of the AI era were being established now and urged countries to ensure they did not become dependent on technologies built from their data and resources but governed by rules they had no role in shaping.
Key points
- President Ruto urges Africa to develop and govern AI to avoid technological dependence.
- Ruto calls for shared sovereignty and cooperation among middle powers to build technological capacity.
- The AI Middle Powers Initiative aims to provide a framework for countries to mobilise financing and develop AI capacity.
