Our Research Agenda
Foundational Research
Research Area | Key Focus |
Foundational Ai Research | · Machine Learning (ML) Operational Logic; Formal rationality; · ML Algorithmic Decision Systems; · Context and causation in ML; · Emergent Properties; · ML Resasoning, Consciousness & intelligence; · Bias & algorithmic proxy discriminaiton, bias-mitigation; · Ai-Human Integration, Politics of language in Ai discourse; · Black Box problem and Transparency, Explainability; · Human Oversight · Accountability Frameworks |
African Ai Governance Mapping | Systematic and continuous review and analysis of national policies, regional frameworks, and governance gaps across African countries. |
Data Governance & Sovereignty | Indigenous data control, cross-border data flows, intersection of data protection and Ai; data management, quality & hiegiene; infrastructure barriers affecting African Ai development |
Human Rights & Ethics
Research Area | Key Focus |
Human Rights & Social Impacts | · Acess & Digital divide (along gender, geography, linguistic, class, race, ability); · Ai surveillance, data protection; · Inequality impacts Ai discrimination across essential sectors, inluding boarder management, social welfare, justice & administration; · Ai design & data, data quality and management, · accountability & remedies. · Ai literacy and capacity building |
Gender, Children, Youth, Labour & Ai Furtures | Women’s disproportionate impact from automation and agorithmification, click work exploitation, informal economy protection, Impact of Ai on Children, Youth. |
Algorithmic Discrimination | ML systems’ inherent bias limitations, right to human decision-making in equality-sensitive contexts |
Sector Focus
Critical Sectors
- Healthcare and Clinical Ai integration
- Education – Pedagogical impacts, workforce skills, local educational continuity
- Climate, Agriculture & Environment – Sustainable farming, climate adaptation, biodiversity protection
- Justice & Public Administration process and decision automation
- Digital Identity & Biometrics
- Surveillance and Law Enforecement
Emerging High-Risk Areas
- Ai & Cybersecurity – Critical infrastructure threats, deepfakes, information integrity
- Generative Ai & LLMs – Local language models, bias mitigation, linguistic and cultural representation
- Military Ai & Continental Security – Autonomous weapons governance, military Ai intergration, meaningful human control, Ai targeting decision-making & IHL
Cross Cutting Themes
Applied across all research areas
- Digital Sovereignty & Value Retention
- Context-Oriented Governance
- Power, Gender & Inclusion
- Infrastructure & Capacity Opportunities
- Ai & data and digital neo-colonialism