Six Francophone West African countries have adopted a shared set of guidelines for ethical, inclusive and responsible artificial intelligence, a coordinated move designed to give the region a common reference point as individual governments race to build out their own national AI policies. Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali and Senegal are the signatories to the framework, led by advocacy organisation Niyel and announced on 6 July on the sidelines of the United Nations’ inaugural Global AI Dialogue on Governance. The framework’s stated aim is to help governments design AI policy that reflects African realities while strengthening regional cooperation, a deliberate alternative to importing governance models built for other contexts.
Burkina Faso’s Minister of Digital Transition, Posts and Electronic Communications, Aminata Zerbo/Sabane, framed the initiative as a response to an accelerating technological shift that leaves no room for passive observation. “The artificial intelligence revolution is accelerating, and with it every nation faces a choice: either undergo this transformation or become an active participant in shaping it,” said Sabane, adding that the guidelines should let African countries build governance rooted in their own values, languages and development priorities. The document itself was jointly developed by researchers, technical experts and senior digital-affairs officials from the six participating countries, intended to serve as a reference point for national AI policies and governance frameworks. Its core recommendations centre on transparent, safe and inclusive AI systems that respect fundamental rights and reflect local context with particular emphasis on stronger data protection, skills development, mitigation of algorithmic bias, support for local innovation and digital sovereignty.
The initiative arrives as several participating countries have already begun formalising national AI policy independently, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire have both adopted national AI strategies, while the remaining four continue developing or strengthening their own frameworks. Niyel’s guidelines aren’t designed to override those national strategies; instead, they offer a shared foundation intended to encourage convergence around ethics, inclusion, transparency and digital sovereignty across the bloc. The launch fits into a broader wave of AI governance activity globally and continentally. UNESCO adopted its Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in 2021, and the African Union launched its Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy in 2024, encouraging member states to align national policy with Africa’s development priorities. Niyel has also submitted the new guidelines as a formal written contribution to the UN’s first Global AI Dialogue on Governance, positioning the West African framework within that larger international policy conversation.
Beyond ethics, the framework’s promoters argue AI could help address concrete development challenges across education, healthcare, agriculture and public services but they were equally clear about the risk of getting this wrong. Uncontrolled adoption of AI systems developed outside Africa, they warned, could deepen technological dependence and reproduce algorithmic biases that fail to reflect African realities on the ground. The shared guidelines, in their framing, are meant to give Francophone African countries a common reference point for AI policy while strengthening cooperation across the region, a hedge against building critical digital infrastructure on foundations designed elsewhere.
