INTRODUCTION
Across Africa, artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly evolving from an emerging technology into a powerful force shaping economies, governance, and daily life. From mobile-based health diagnostics and precision agriculture to digital finance and automated public services, AI is increasingly woven into the continent’s development trajectory.
As these technologies spread, they bring immense promise for accelerating growth and expanding access to essential services. Yet they also raise profound questions about the protection of human rights within African societies.
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights provides a comprehensive framework for safeguarding dignity, equality, and freedom across the continent. Today, however, AI systems whether deployed by governments, private actors, or international partners intersect with nearly every category of rights recognised in the Charter: the right to privacy, equality and non-discrimination, freedom of expression, access to information, fair trial guarantees, socio-economic rights, and even collective rights such as development and self-determination.
While AI has the potential to enhance these rights by improving transparency, accountability, and service delivery, its risks, ranging from algorithmic discrimination and surveillance to exclusion and manipulation, are equally significant.
This article explores the landscape of AI in Africa. It examines how its deployment both advances and threatens the rights enshrined in the African Charter and other regional human rights instruments. It highlights the positive contributions of AI to human development while uncovering the structural, political, and socio-economic vulnerabilities that can amplify its harms. Finally, it assesses the capacity of African human rights mechanisms, including regional courts, national institutions, regulatory bodies, and civil society,y to mitigate these harms and uphold rights in an increasingly digital age. As AI continues to reshape Africa’s future, a rights-centred approach will be essential to ensuring that innovation serves all Africans, equitably and responsibly.
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