Kambale Musavuli, Technology Policy Advocate and Founder of Beyond AI, has called on Africans to move beyond just using Artificial Intelligence and begin to own and control the tools.
Speaking ahead of the Nyanza Future 2026 conference, Mr. Musavuli said the theme for this year is “From Adoption to Ownership” because AI is already part of daily life and cannot be avoided.
“We know that AI is here. People are already using it. Adopting it is not enough,”_ he said.
He explained that most AI tools were not built by Africans and carry the ideology of those who created them.
“Technology is never neutral. If we don’t own the tools that AI uses, we will continue to be consumers while our data is extracted from the continent for reasons we may not know,”_ he stated.
Mr. Musavuli said ownership starts with understanding AI and its supply chain. He noted that Africa provides key minerals like cobalt, lithium and copper needed to build data centers and batteries, yet the continent benefits little from them.
He also raised concerns about data. He asked where African data goes when people use tools like ChatGPT or Gemini, and whether it is protected under Ghanaian law or foreign law.
He cited Ghana’s recent decision to reject a U.S. proposal to access Ghanaian patient health data as a good example of protecting citizens’ information.
“Nyanza means wisdom. We as African people have the wisdom to shape the world, but sometimes we forget. We must decide how AI is used in our society,”_ he added.
Mr. Musavuli said the Nyanza Future 2026 conference, held every last Saturday of the month, will bring together community knowledge to produce a manifesto or declaration on how AI should be implemented in Africa.
