Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve [email protected]
AFRICA must not sit back as a passive consumer of artificial intelligence technologies designed elsewhere, or risk having its values, languages and cultures erased from the future knowledge economy, Potraz Director General Dr Gift Machengete has warned.
Speaking on Monday at the ITU Regional Development Forum for Africa 2026 in Victoria Falls, Dr Machengete said the continent must actively participate in shaping the ethics and governance of emerging technologies.
“If Africa does not actively participate in shaping Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies, then the future may be designed without African values, African cultures, African spirituality, African languages, and African perspectives
“That would be a profound mistake because technology is never neutral. Every technology carries the values, assumptions, philosophies, and cultural perspectives of those who create it,” Dr Machengete said.
Dr Machengete warned that AI systems must understand African realities, including indigenous languages such as Shona, isiZulu, Kiswahili, Yoruba, Hausa, Amharic and Arabic.
“A continent whose languages and values are absent from Artificial Intelligence systems risks becoming invisible in the future knowledge economy,” he said.
Dr Machengete said AI and robotics could soon allow people to interact with synthetic versions of deceased loved ones, raising profound moral questions.
“As Africans, we must ask ourselves: is this the future we want? Because while technology may make something possible, humanity must still decide whether it is desirable,” he said.
Africa, he argued, has always valued the sanctity of life, the dignity of death, spirituality and family.
“We therefore cannot afford to become passive consumers of technologies developed elsewhere without participating in the conversations that shape their direction, their limits, their ethics, and their impact on humanity,” he said.
He called for African unity ahead of global decisions on digital governance.
“Africa must not arrive late to that conversation. We must converge as a continent to ensure that our voice is heard clearly and collectively within the global digital ecosystem,” he said.
Dr Machengete reminded delegates that civilisation itself began in Africa.
“Because Africa is the cradle of humanity, Africa must also help defend humanity in the age of Artificial Intelligence,” he said.
The week-long forum brings together regulators, ministers and development partners to prepare Africa’s position for the upcoming ITU Plenipotentiary Conference.
