Between Hype and Ambivalence: The Governance of Criminal Justice AI in Africa

Imperatives of governing artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly drawing attention in Africa. This is reflected primarily in the adoption of AI strategies at the national and regional levels. In the past few years, over a dozen African countries have issued national AI strategies. The African Union (AU) launched a continental AI strategy as well as a digital compact as part of the AI governance drive in Africa. A handful of countries on the continent have since charted a process towards AI legislation. Drawing upon a case study of national and regional governance initiatives, this chapter explores the extent to which criminal justice AI is governed in Africa. The chapter argues that, clouded by the hype around the economic benefits of AI, the uses of AI in the criminal justice sector are yet to find meaningful attention in emergent AI governance initiatives. Neither the role of AI in modernising criminal justice efforts nor risks of misuse are sufficiently articulated in national and continental AI governance initiatives. The chapter further considers the limits of governance regimes that predate the advent of AI, such as data protection law, in filling the regulatory vacuum. The chapter closes with a caution against the rush to deploy AI systems in criminal justice in the face of such a vacuum, prevalent digital divide and digital illiteracy in the continent. African policymakers must move beyond the traps of hype and regulatory ambivalence.