President William Ruto has warned African countries against allowing the artificial intelligence era to create new forms of technological dependency.
Ruto said African nations must build their own capacity in infrastructure, skills, research and governance to ensure they benefit from the rapid growth of AI.
“The AI era must expand the ability of nations to shape their own future, not create new forms of technological dependency,” Ruto said.
He spoke in New York on Monday, September 21, on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, where he co-chaired the High-Level AI Middle Powers Coalition meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
Ruto said Africa should focus on capturing more of the value generated by AI by using its energy, resources, data and talent to develop local capabilities, businesses and solutions.
He warned that African countries risk repeating the continent’s traditional extractive economic model in the digital economy if they remain mainly consumers of technologies developed elsewhere.
“Africa cannot provide the minerals, energy, data, content, and talent of the AI revolution, only to import the resulting intelligence at a premium,” he said.
Ruto said no country can independently control every part of the AI value chain, including advanced chips, data centres, computing power and frontier AI models.
He therefore called for stronger international cooperation, saying countries should work together in areas where resources and expertise need to be pooled while retaining control over matters requiring national accountability.
For Kenya, Ruto said the government was pursuing the agenda through the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy.
The strategy focuses on digital infrastructure, data and AI governance, research, innovation and commercialisation.
Ruto said Kenya wants to use AI to improve agricultural productivity, healthcare, education, public services and financial inclusion while creating new businesses and jobs.
He also called for greater African participation in setting global AI rules, arguing that decisions governing the technology should not be left to a small group of governments, companies or laboratories.
“AI governance must be globally shaped, not globally imposed,” Ruto said.
The President’s remarks come as countries increasingly debate who should control the infrastructure, data and technology powering the AI economy.
The African Union has also identified gaps in digital infrastructure, skills, quality datasets and financing as major challenges to the continent’s AI ambitions.
Ruto’s UNGA engagements are part of Kenya’s wider push for greater African participation in the global digital and AI economy.