By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
Kenya’s Special Envoy on
Technology, Ambassador Philip Thigo, has called for stronger access to compute,
data and skills across Africa, alongside trusted partnerships and shared
sovereignty, as artificial intelligence capabilities accelerate globally.
Speaking at the World
Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Meetings in New York,
Ambassador Thigo said AI is increasingly becoming part of economic
infrastructure, requiring countries to focus not only on how quickly they adopt
the technology but also on whether adoption builds productivity, capability and
agency.
“For Africa, this means
strengthening access to compute, data and skills; investing in locally relevant
applications and research; and building partnerships that allow countries to
participate meaningfully across the AI value chain,” he said.
Ambassador Thigo also
highlighted the importance of shared sovereignty, arguing that no country can
build every layer of the AI stack on its own. He said countries need trusted
interdependence while retaining the capacity to make choices about technologies
that are increasingly shaping their economies, institutions and societies.
His comments came during a
conversation on artificial intelligence and the choices countries must make as
AI capabilities continue to accelerate.
According to Ambassador
Thigo, AI adoption should be assessed not simply by the speed at which
countries embrace the technology, but by whether it contributes to
productivity, capability and agency.
He said Africa’s ability to
participate meaningfully in the AI value chain will require investment in
locally relevant applications and research, as well as partnerships that expand
access to the resources and capabilities needed to develop and deploy AI.
The Kenyan envoy said shared
sovereignty does not mean countries must build every component of the AI
ecosystem independently. Instead, he stressed the need for trusted
interdependence while maintaining the capacity to make informed choices about
technologies with growing economic and societal significance.
“As we discussed this week
in New York, the opportunity is to ensure that AI expands human agency, creates
economic value and strengthens our collective capacity to address shared
challenges,” Ambassador Thigo said.
