As industries race to embrace artificial intelligence, implications for emerging economies remain uncertain. “Emerging technologies like AI can bridge the gap, or widen the existing disparity if we don’t do anything about it”, says Ghislain Irakoze, a social entrepreneur. “That’s why I started to get immersed in AI governance, especially since a majority of African countries are trying to set up AI infrastructures and policies.” As an IF 2024/25 Sustained Discussion Fellow, Ghislain’s project, Artificial Intelligence & Emerging Political Economies, seeks to explore the implications of and possible futures for AI, especially when it comes to East Africa.
Ghislain is no stranger to the tech space, having co-founded Rwandan cleantech organization Wastezon. He explains that Wastezon helps address digital exclusion, as “we facilitate low-income households obtaining low-cost refurbished devices”. His concern with equity and equitable access is fundamental to how he does his work, and he believes that “by conducting a public discourse project on AI governance, we can get a broader view on what governments can do to adopt these AI technologies and ensure that they are equitable and accessible within communities.”
“There’s a need for engaging communities, especially marginalized communities, to provide more guidance to governments and policymakers on the way they can enact AI policies and infrastructures.”
A key focus of Ghislain’s project is how AI can be adapted to local contexts in emerging economies. “Here we are dealing with 3000 languages across the continent that need to be adapted to,” he explains. “We have over 200 ethnic groups spread across the continent, so I’m trying to assess how these technologies will recreate or bridge the gap in the already growing digital divide.”
His work also explores the challenges of data equity and ethical AI use. One of the big questions he’s asking is how “policy or regulations could improve the inclusion of African cultural values” in AI systems, and “what specific global support systems could be put in place to ensure that Africans are able to voice their concerns on these emerging technologies.”
“In 20 years, AI could disrupt the way we live, the way we communicate, and the way we produce everything. So we need to make sure that such disruptions are safe for communities.”
Despite his concerns, Ghislain also sees AI’s potential for enabling positive transformation. “It could disrupt food insecurity in Africa. For instance, by using AI to understand soil content or predict weather, we can really achieve food security–and this could release people from suffering. We have energy poverty where people don’t have access to energy, so by employing AI we could unlock underutilized renewable energies like solar power. So there are lots of ways we could tap into AI to rethink or improve our ways of living.”
Looking ahead, Ghislain has high hopes for his project. “At the end of the Fellowship,” he says, “I want to see how the power of community can unlock change, especially sustainable change. Bringing people together to discuss emerging policy challenges could be an enormous opportunity for the global community to really imagine the future, identify opportunities, mitigate risks, and pave the way for a more sustainable future that we can look forward to.”
Ghislain is also currently a Data Value Advocate at the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, where he works with six East African organizations on local contextualization of AI. He is currently undertaking his Master of Public Policy at the University of Oxford.
About the Sustained Discussion Fellowship
The Interactivity Foundation’s Sustained Discussion Fellowship is designed to support independent, exploratory discussion projects that focus on under-examined areas of public concern. The Fellowship, running from September 2024 to June 2025, invites a select group of Visiting Fellows to lead discussions that aim to expand thinking and understanding around emerging issues.
Each project not only produces new insights but also aims to inspire positive social change by encouraging meaningful conversations that might otherwise remain taboo. Fellows therefore help to expand the boundaries of public imagination, while creating publicly-available tools and plans that can support discussions elsewhere.
Make sure you connect with us on social media for insights and reflections throughout the Fellowship, and learn more about the work of our Fellows here.
Follow along on social media:
