The Group of Friends on Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development, co-chaired by Morocco and the United States, organized a high-level event on the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence (AI) to support sustainable development in Africa. The event took place at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday, July 22, 2024. Titled «Artificial Intelligence: An Exponential Opportunity for Sustainable Development in Africa», this event reflects Morocco's commitment to South-South cooperation, a cornerstone of the Kingdom's foreign policy. The meeting aimed to highlight the importance of strategic partnerships and enhanced cooperation to improve Africa's AI capabilities and give the continent a voice in the global, multi-stakeholder debate on AI, its governance, and its benefits. Professor Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, Executive President of the Moroccan International Center for Artificial Intelligence, known as AI Movement, at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), attended the event. She presented on the key role AI can play in transforming Africa's future and the potential of this technology to contribute $1.5 trillion to the African economy, or 6% of the continent's GDP. Professor Seghrouchni further emphasized that the current meeting at the United Nations aims to increase visibility for the Rabat African Consensus on AI and contribute to a better representation of Africa in global discussions around AI governance. The meeting also saw the participation of Rachel Adams, CEO of the South Africa-based Global Center on AI Governance, which hosts the African Observatory on Responsible AI. Adopted unanimously, the Rabat Consensus defines three founding principles that will mobilize institutions across the continent: working towards a common framework for global and inclusive AI governance, harnessing AI in the public sector and in the service of the African common good, and ensuring the ethical and human rights-based development and use of AI for the benefit of all.
