Africa’s first comprehensive artificial intelligence (AI) governance intelligence platform has been launched, offering policymakers, investors, and development partners a clear, data-driven view of how the continent is preparing for the AI era.
The new platform is the flagship initiative of the African AI Governance Index Foundation (AAGI), a Ghana-based non-profit research institution that tracks AI policy, regulation, and infrastructure capacity across all 54 African Union member states.
The launch introduces open-access tools designed to answer a long-standing question in global technology and development circles: where does Africa actually stand on AI governance?
“The data existed, but it was scattered, buried, or simply uncollected,” said Kwame A. A. Opoku, Founder and Executive Director of AAGI. “We built the infrastructure to centralize it, verify it, and make it useful. Africa cannot lead on AI governance if no one can see where Africa stands.”
Policy Tracker Goes Live Across 54 Countries
At the center of the launch is AAGI’s live AI Policy Tracker, now monitoring national AI strategies, regulatory frameworks, and institutional developments in real time across every African Union country. The tool provides a single source of truth showing which countries have published AI strategies, which are drafting them, and which have yet to begin.
Unlike global benchmarks such as the Oxford Insights Government AI Readiness Index, AAGI’s framework is built specifically for Africa. Its methodology uses 80 indicators—double the count of many global indices—allowing for deeper, Africa-specific policy analysis.
Mapping Africa’s Data Center and Compute Capacity
In the coming weeks, AAGI will roll out its Infrastructure Tracker, a continent-wide intelligence platform covering Africa’s compute and data center landscape. Initial findings track 223 data center facilities across 38 countries, representing an estimated market value of $3.49 billion and roughly 780 megawatts of IT capacity.
Beyond facility counts, the platform maps submarine cable landing points, hyperscaler presence—including Microsoft, Google, AWS, and Oracle—energy sources powering compute infrastructure, regulatory environments, and AI-specific compute capacity.
“Africa holds less than two percent of the world’s data centers while preparing for the largest demographic expansion in human history,” Opoku said. “Investors are making billion-dollar decisions without adequate intelligence. We’re fixing that.”
An 80-Indicator Framework for AI Governance
AAGI’s assessment methodology is structured around eight pillars, ranging from national AI strategy and regulation to infrastructure, talent development, ethics, and real-world implementation. The full indicator codebook, data collection protocols, and scoring criteria will be released publicly, enabling governments and researchers to self-assess and build on the framework.
Pilot Countries and Growing Partnerships
The Foundation has already begun a 10-country pilot assessment designed to test and validate its methodology before full continental rollout. The pilot spans diverse regions and economies and is supported by local Country Partners who provide on-the-ground data collection and validation.
AAGI has named Ai4Botswana as its first formal Country Partner and identified Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Botswana as Founding Pilot Nations.
“We’re not building a remote observation post,” said Stella Agara, a Founding Partner at AAGI. “We’re building a network. By the time we cover 54 nations, we’ll have 54 partners invested in the accuracy of what we publish.”
Why the Timing Matters
Africa’s data center market is projected to nearly double by the end of the decade, while hyperscalers, development finance institutions, and governments invest billions in digital and AI infrastructure. Yet many of these decisions are being made without reliable intelligence on regulatory clarity, energy readiness, talent pipelines, or governance maturity.
AAGI aims to close that gap—replacing speculation with verified data to guide policy, investment, and international cooperation.
About AAGI
The African AI Governance Index Foundation is a non-profit research institution developing the first continent-wide assessment of AI governance readiness across all 54 African Union member states. Through its Policy Tracker, Infrastructure Tracker, and annual Index publication, AAGI provides open-access intelligence to support informed decision-making on Africa’s AI future.
The Foundation is registered in Accra, with subsidiary registrations in Kenya and United States.
Media Contact:
Wisdom Ofori, Director of Global Partnerships
African AI Governance Index Foundation
Email: intelligence@aagi.africa
Website: www.aagi.africa
