Southern African Development Community (SADC) nations are establishing unified data governance frameworks to support the development and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across the region.
Hosted by Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Postal and Courier Services, the SADC Regional Workshop on Data Governance in the digital Age in Harare focuses on data policy harmonisation.
The event is staged in partnership with the World Bank, Smart Africa, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe , and UNESCO.
"Without strong data governance and policy harmonisation, our region risks falling behind in AI readiness or becoming passive consumers of external technologies," says Dr Beaullah Chirume, permanent secretary in Zimbabwe’s Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services.
Delegates from SA, Comoros, Eswatini, and Botswana warned that AI deployment depends on secure, fair and reliable data pools, noting that weak local infrastructure leaves African markets dependent on foreign-developed systems.
While policy awareness is growing across the continent, implementation remains uneven, according to analysis from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Early movers, including Mauritius, Egypt, Rwanda and Kenya, lead in formal policy adoption, aligned with the overarching African Union Continental AI Strategy.
"Data quality directly influences the reliability, fairness, and safety of AI models, making synchronized policy essential as technology expands," says Chirume.
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