Pan-African Parliament calls for urgent AI safeguards, data sovereignty

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In December last year, Geoffrey Hinton, often referred to as the Godfather of Artificial Intelligence, was awarded a Nobel Prize for his pioneering work in machine learning.

However, in an interview with CBS News two months ago, the British-Canadian computer scientist admitted that while he hadn't anticipated we would reach this point so soon, unregulated AI could empower authoritarian regimes to become more oppressive and hackers more effective.

“People haven’t understood what is coming. I don’t think there’s a way of stopping it to take control if it wants to. The issue is, can we design it in such a way that it never wants to take control that is always benevolent,” Hinton said.

Repeating the same on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on April 28, this year.

“AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) is the most important and potentially dangerous technology of our time. OpenAI was right that this technology merits strong structures and incentives to ensure it is developed safely and is wrong now in attempting to change these structures and incentives. We're urging the AGs to protect the public and stop this,” Hinton posted.

AGI, which is sometimes called human-level intelligence, is a type of artificial intelligence that experts say shall surpass human capabilities in all cognitive tasks.

OpenAI, on the other hand, is an American artificial intelligence company situated in San Francisco, California.

Pan-African Parliament

Now, Pan-African Parliament lawmakers have warned that the continent risks slipping into a new form of digital colonialism if urgent steps are not taken to control AI and data governance.

This transpired on Friday, July 25, 2025, during ongoing deliberations at the 5th Ordinary Session of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) in Midrand, South Africa.

Expert opinion

Danielle Coleman of the University of Michigan Law School describes digital colonialism as a modern-day “Scramble for Africa”. Where large-scale tech companies extract, analyse, and own user data for profit and market influence, with nominal benefit to the data source.

“Under the guise of altruism, large-scale tech companies can use their power and resources to access untapped data on the continent. Scant data protection laws and infrastructure ownership by Western tech companies open the door for exploitation of data as a resource for-profit and a myriad of uses, including predictive analytics,” Coleman stated in a 2019 paper.

Submitting at PAP on July 25, 2025, Prof. Mirjam van Reisen from Leiden University, Netherlands, expressed grave concern about the same. Arguing that as it is, Africa’s data, particularly in sectors such as health, agriculture and finance, is exported to data centres in the United States, China and Europe, often without oversight or regulation by Africa.

“Economies now drive on data as the principle raw material, and Africa provides this for free. No return. No regulation. No sovereignty over how our data is used. This poses an enormous risk as we lose control over our economies, finances, politics, culture and heritage,” Mirjam noted in her presentation.

The legislators called for urgent implementation of data localisation laws requiring critical data to be stored in Africa and also investment in digital infrastructure.

Leaders speak out

According to Esther Muthoni Passaris (Kenya, ODM), the earlier the 54 African states take action, the better.  

“If we don’t act decisively, we risk being perpetual consumers of foreign technology rather than architects of our own digital future,” she said, adding that “data is the lifeblood of the digital economy, yet much of Africa’s data is harvested freely and monetised abroad,” Passaris argued.

To achieve this, she called for broad investment in digital infrastructure and human capital.

“We cannot leapfrog when only 27 per cent of Africans have Internet access," Citing a looming crisis, Passaris explained.

Adding that, “AI is already displacing jobs globally from manufacturing to customer services. We must upskill and reskill youth and workforce by integrating AI and digital literacy into schools.”

On his part, Dokolo South MP Felix Okot Ogong (NRM) urged the African Union to take the lead by adopting a clear structure on how Africa as a continent will handle AI.

“We need to prepare as Africa and collect our own data. I call upon African countries to prepare for AI by putting in place resources, legislation and policies that extend the penetration of internet in the continent,” Ogong said.

While acknowledging the benefits of AI, he criticised the narrow use of technology by African governments, saying that “most African countries look at technology as a vehicle for collecting revenue through taxation,” Instead, he proposed, “It should be used to propel access to information.”

On his part, Senator Danson Mungatana (Kenya, UDA) thinks that the Pan-African Parliament should play a lead role in establishment of digital and cybersecurity structures by having a centre for cyber security for Africa to protect it from external attacks.

Tafanana Zhou (Zimbabwe, ZANU-PF) emphasized that no one should be left behind in the AI transition.

“PAP should roll out targeted capacity building programmes for MPs and staff and work towards development of model laws so as to improve national AI legislation,” Tafanana implored.

Steps being taken

Sharing her country’s experience, Safia Elmi Djibril (Djibouti) said a Ministry for Digitisation and AI has been established and smart classrooms introduced in schools.

The Pan African Parliament is sitting from 21st to 31st July 2025 under the African Union theme of the year 2025: “Justice for Africans and Persons of African Descent Through Reparations.”

Uganda’s delegation to the Pan African Parliament includes Patrick Oshabe Nsamba (Kassanda North, NUP), Felix Okot Ogong (Dokolo South, NRM), Juliet Achayo Lodou (Ngora County, NRM), Abdu Katuntu (Bugweri County, Independent) and Caroline Kamusiime (Rukiga District Woman MP, NRM).