Africa: Who Is Missing From Africa's AI Future?

What the report says

In a guest column published by AllAfrica on 29 September 2026, Mary-Ann Etiebet, president and CEO of Vital Strategies, argues that Africa’s artificial intelligence future will depend as much on basic public systems as on advanced technology. Writing after UNGA81 and the Unstoppable Africa session, she cites remarks by Rwanda’s Prime Minister Justin Nsengiyumva and Sierra Leone’s Chief Minister David Moinina Sengeh as examples of African leaders emphasizing digital infrastructure, data governance and the risks of data extraction.

The column focuses on civil registration and official identity as the foundations for inclusion. Etiebet says many children in sub-Saharan Africa are still not born into systems that count them, and she frames this as a public health, equity and governance problem. She argues that governments cannot reliably deliver services, measure reach or assess needs if large parts of the population are missing from administrative records. She also notes that more than 800 million people globally still lack official proof of identity, with many of them children.

Etiebet points to country-level efforts in Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia as examples of attempts to connect birth registration, identity systems and public services. She warns that digital public services and AI tools can still exclude people without documents, connectivity or digital skills. More broadly, she says AI can improve surveillance, planning and response, but only if the data includes the people it is meant to serve.

Her main conclusion is that Africa’s AI success should be measured by “radical inclusion”: stronger birth and death registration, trusted identity systems, interoperable infrastructure and institutions that protect data while using it to expand access to health, education and other services.