She and Tech Empowerment Hub

A successful first Global Dialogue on AI Governance should go beyond high level principles and lead to practical, inclusive, and measurable outcomes especially for regions like Nigeria and Africa. From my perspective as an AI researcher and academic, and through the work we do at SheandTech building AI capacity for women across sectors, success would come down to three key things. First, governance frameworks must reflect real world contexts. Global AI policies cannot be designed only from the perspective of advanced economies. They need to consider challenges like limited data, infrastructure gaps, and unequal access to technology. In Africa, governance should support innovation while also addressing risks such as bias, exclusion, and over dependence on external systems. Second, there must be clear commitment to building talent. Governance without skills will not work. We need to see real investment in AI education, research, and workforce development, especially for women and other underrepresented groups. At SheandTech, we see every day how empowering women with practical AI skills translates into economic opportunity and broader impact. Third, collaboration must move from discussion to action. Governments, academia, industry, and civil society all have a role to play, but there must also be accountability. This includes shared standards, open collaboration, and ways to measure progress. Emerging economies should not just be included in the conversation, they should help shape it. Ultimately, success will be defined by whether this dialogue leads to real action that expands access, supports responsible innovation, and creates meaningful economic value for everyone.

• Safe, secure and trustworthy AI
• AI capacity-building
• Social, economic, ethical, cultural, linguistic and technical implications of AI
• Transparency, accountability, and human oversight

These thematic areas strongly reflect both SheandTech's mission and Nigeria's priorities because they address the immediate needs of building an inclusive, responsible, and competitive AI ecosystem. **Safe, secure and trustworthy AI** is critical in a context where digital adoption is growing rapidly but trust in systems is still evolving. For Nigeria, ensuring AI systems are reliable and fair is essential to protect citizens and encourage wider adoption. At SheandTech, this is particularly important as we work to bring more women into AI, ensuring they are not only users but also contributors to building systems that are safe and inclusive. **AI capacity building** is perhaps the most urgent priority. Nigeria has a young and growing population, but without the right skills, this demographic advantage cannot translate into economic value. Through SheandTech, we see firsthand that equipping women with practical AI skills creates opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship, and innovation across sectors. The **social, economic, ethical, cultural, linguistic, and technical implications of AI** are especially relevant in a diverse country like Nigeria. AI systems must reflect local realities, languages, and cultural contexts. Without this, there is a risk of exclusion and misalignment with real needs. Finally, **transparency, accountability, and human oversight** are essential to ensure responsible use of AI. As adoption increases, there must be clear frameworks that build trust and ensure that AI decisions remain aligned with human values and societal priorities. Together, these areas provide a foundation for inclusive and sustainable AI development.

Governance gaps across these areas are already shaping how AI is being adopted in Nigeria and across Africa, often in ways that highlight both opportunity and risk. In the area of **safe, secure and trustworthy AI**, the absence of clear standards and enforcement mechanisms means that many systems are adopted without adequate testing for bias, reliability, or security. This creates risks for sectors like finance, education, and public services where decisions can significantly impact people's lives. Without trust, adoption will remain limited. For **AI capacity building**, the gap is even more pronounced. While interest in AI is growing rapidly, access to structured training, research infrastructure, and funding remains limited. This leads to a situation where many users consume AI tools but lack the deeper skills to build or adapt them. As a result, the region risks becoming dependent on external technologies rather than developing local solutions. The **social, economic, ethical, cultural, linguistic, and technical implications of AI** are particularly evident in the mismatch between global AI systems and local realities. Many models do not reflect African languages, datasets, or contexts, which can lead to exclusion or inaccurate outcomes. This limits the effectiveness of AI in solving local problems and reinforces digital inequality. Finally, gaps in **transparency, accountability, and human oversight** mean there is limited clarity on how AI systems make decisions or who is responsible when things go wrong. This is especially concerning in high impact areas such as lending, hiring, and governance. These gaps slow down innovation, reduce trust, and limit the ability of Nigeria and the broader region to fully benefit from AI while safeguarding its people.

The AI Dialogue can play a critical role in moving global AI governance from fragmented efforts to coordinated, inclusive action. It can create a **shared platform for alignment** across governments, industry, academia, and civil society, helping to develop common principles while respecting different national contexts. This is especially important for ensuring that emerging economies are not just adopters of AI rules, but active contributors in shaping them. It can also drive **collaborative capacity building**, enabling knowledge sharing, joint research, and skills development across regions. This helps reduce the growing gap between countries with advanced AI capabilities and those still developing them. The Dialogue should embed **diversity and inclusion** at the core of AI governance. By intentionally including voices from underrepresented groups, including women and communities from the Global South, it ensures that AI systems reflect a wider range of perspectives and needs, leading to more equitable outcomes. It can further support **accountability and transparency mechanisms** by encouraging shared standards and measurable commitments across countries. Overall, the AI Dialogue can act as a bridge connecting ideas, stakeholders, and regions to ensure that AI governance is globally coordinated, locally relevant, and inclusive by design.

African voices remain underrepresented in global AI governance discussions, particularly local researchers, policymakers, grassroots innovators, and communities directly affected by AI systems. This gap means that many frameworks reflect the priorities of advanced economies while overlooking realities such as informal economies, limited infrastructure, and multilingual societies. Women and young people, who make up a large share of Africa's population, are also insufficiently represented, despite being key users and future builders of AI. Without their perspectives, there is a risk of reinforcing existing inequalities. Inclusion must be intentional. Global platforms should support participation from African stakeholders through funding, partnerships, and regional consultations that feed into global decision making. Strengthening local capacity in research, policy, and innovation is also essential. Ultimately, meaningful inclusion ensures that AI governance is not only globally aligned but also locally relevant, reflecting Africa's unique needs and opportunities.

To ensure inclusion, regional dialogue hubs or hybrid participation formats should be integrated, enabling voices from underrepresented regions, including Africa, to actively contribute in real time. Additionally, commitment sessions where participants outline specific actions or partnerships can help ensure that the Dialogue leads to measurable outcomes rather than remaining purely conversational.