Experts warn AI governance alone won’t help Africa excel
Coordinator for Undergraduate Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Dr Cecilia Ngaiza, addresses experts during a two-day conference on Regional Integration, Artificial Intelligence and Pan-African Architecture, held at UDSM on July 8,2026. Experts warned that African countries, including Tanzania, must not only rely on AI governance initiatives, but also must build local innovation capacity and empower startups to create home-grown solutions. PHOTO | JACOB MOSENDA.
Many young entrepreneurs are already using AI to establish businesses, create employment opportunities and address social challenges, but they require supportive legal policies
Dar es Salaam. As Tanzania moves towards establishing a framework to govern artificial intelligence (AI), experts have warned that regulation alone will not determine the country's success in the digital revolution unless it builds local innovation capacity, protects its data and empowers startups to create home-grown solutions.
The warning emerged during a workshop on Regional Integration, AI and Pan-African Architecture held at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) on July 8, 2026, where experts discussed how law, policy and regional cooperation can shape East Africa's role in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
The workshop was organised by the Tanzania-German Centre for Eastern African Legal Studies, with participants examining whether East Africa will become an active contributor to AI development or remain a consumer of technologies created elsewhere.
Opening the discussion, a law lecturer at UDSM and representative of the centre, Dr Petro Protus, said the event was aimed at addressing the legal and policy challenges facing emerging AI entrepreneurs.
He said the region must ask whether it is simply observing technological change or actively participating in shaping it.
"Are we people of East Africa merely spectators of these technologies, or are we participants in developing and advancing them?" Dr Protus asked.
He noted that many young entrepreneurs are already using AI to establish businesses, create employment opportunities and address social challenges, but they require supportive legal and policy environments to grow.
"We need to understand the challenges they face, the causes of those challenges and how we can solve them together as citizens of Tanzania and members of the East African Community," he said.
The question of Africa's role in AI development was central to the arguments presented by computer scientist Dr Leonard Binamungu and AI governance expert Dr Joseph Nyansiro.
Dr Binamungu, a don at the UDSM College of Information and Communication Technologies (CoICT) challenged policymakers and innovators to look beyond regulation and consider whether Africa is building its own technological future.
"Are we building our own digital house, or are we merely tenants in an architecture designed by others?" he asked.
He argued that while AI governance is important, it must be designed to support local innovators rather than create barriers that favour large international technology companies.
"If our legal evolution does not explicitly prioritise the survival and scale of these African startups, we risk remaining spectators in our own market," he warned.
According to him, startups are often the first to identify local problems, develop prototypes and test solutions before they reach wider markets. Their experiences, he argued, should therefore inform the development of practical AI regulations.
Manager for Information System Quality Assurance at Tanzania Revenue Authority, Dr Nyansiro, who delivered the keynote address, said AI governance should not be viewed as an obstacle to innovation but as a foundation for building public confidence.
"Governance creates trust. Trust creates adoption. Adoption creates markets, and markets create opportunities for economic and social development," he said.
