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African universities must foster equity and champion inclusive and Afrocentric algorithms

African universities must foster equity and champion inclusive and Afrocentric algorithms
Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis
By Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis
20 Feb 2025
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There is a danger that African scholars and students will increasingly rely on AI-generated content that reflects Eurocentric assumptions, ultimately eroding the diversity of knowledge traditions that have long shaped African academia.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic dream but an omnipresent reality reshaping every facet of human life. Since the release of ChatGPT-3 and similar large language models in November 2022, AI has dramatically transformed how knowledge is produced, accessed, and consumed​.

While AI has brought educational opportunities, including personalised learning, automated assessment, and knowledge generation, it also presents fundamental ethical, social, and epistemic challenges​.

Higher education in Africa stands at a unique crossroads in this AI revolution. With its longstanding infrastructural challenges, resource limitations, and disparities in digital literacy, the continent faces an urgent question: will AI empower African universities to leapfrog into a new era of knowledge production, or will it further exacerbate existing inequalities, fostering an illusion of progress while deepening intellectual dependency?

This essay critically examines the landscape of AI in African higher education, its unique challenges, and possible strategies for ensuring that AI becomes a tool for liberation rather than a mechanism of exclusion.

Most African universities are paradoxical spaces. On the one hand, they have produced world-class intellectuals, pioneered research in critical areas and played a central role in political and social transformation.

On the other hand, many African higher education institutions continue to struggle with issues such as limited funding, overcrowded classrooms, inadequate research infrastructure, and outdated curricula​.

Moreover, digital transformation in African universities has been uneven. While some institutions have made significant strides in online learning and digital pedagogy, many others still grapple with unreliable internet connectivity, limited access to digital tools, and faculty members who lack training in emerging technologies.​

AI, then, enters this complex educational landscape with a dual promise: It could either bridge existing gaps by democratising access to knowledge, or create new forms of exclusion, where only the technologically privileged can fully participate in the knowledge economy.

AI and the unique challenges in African higher education


Despite the hype surrounding AI’s potential in education, its integration into African universities comes with unique obstacles. These challenges range from epistemic concerns to infrastructural and ethical dilemmas, all of which must be carefully navigated to ensure AI serves as a tool for empowerment rather than exclusion.

A major concern with AI in African higher education is the potential for intellectual colonisation. AI systems are trained predominantly on Western-centric data, reinforcing biases that marginalise African epistemologies and indigenous knowledge systems.

As AI becomes embedded in research and teaching, there is a danger that African scholars and students will increasingly rely on AI-generated content that reflects Eurocentric assumptions, ultimately eroding the diversity of knowledge traditions that have long shaped African academia.

For AI to be a meaningful tool in higher education, both students and educators must also develop AI literacy, the ability to critically engage with AI, understand its limitations, and use it responsibly.

However, research indicates that many global AI literacy initiatives fail to incorporate cross-cultural perspectives, leaving African educators and students without adequate frameworks to assess AI-generated knowledge effectively. This lack of culturally relevant AI education further compounds the challenge of ensuring AI is used in a way that aligns with Africa’s diverse intellectual traditions.

Epistemic concerns


Compounding these epistemic concerns are infrastructural limitations that hinder AI’s full integration into African universities. Many institutions continue to grapple with unreliable internet access, outdated computer systems, and insufficient computational resources.

Given that AI-driven education requires high processing power, cloud storage, and stable connectivity, these deficiencies create a growing digital divide. As a result, only elite universities with better funding and technological capacity can afford to implement AI-based learning and research, further exacerbating inequalities in access to quality education.

Beyond infrastructure, ethical concerns surrounding AI in higher education must also be addressed. Questions of data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the surveillance of students are particularly pressing.

African universities must consider how to regulate AI-powered educational tools in a way that ensures they do not become mechanisms of control, especially in contexts where academic freedom is already at risk. Without clear regulations, there is a danger that AI-driven surveillance could limit student autonomy and restrict open intellectual inquiry.

Ultimately, while AI holds immense potential to revolutionise education in Africa, its successful implementation requires a holistic approach that addresses epistemic, infrastructural, and ethical challenges.

By prioritising African knowledge systems, improving access to digital infrastructure, and developing regulatory frameworks that safeguard privacy and academic freedom, AI can be harnessed as a tool for innovation and inclusivity, rather than deepening existing disparities.

A call for Afrocentric AI policies


African universities and policymakers must take proactive steps to shape AI adoption in higher education, ensuring that AI serves as a tool for empowerment rather than exclusion. This requires a deliberate and strategic approach that prioritises AI literacy, the development of localised AI models, equitable access to AI tools, and robust ethical frameworks.

Instead of passively adopting AI tools developed in the Global North, African universities should prioritise AI literacy programmes tailored to their unique educational contexts. These programmes should go beyond basic AI usage and emphasise critical engagement, equipping students and educators with the ability to question AI’s biases, limitations, and ethical implications.

By fostering a culture of AI literacy, African higher education can ensure that AI is used as a tool for knowledge expansion rather than a mechanism that reinforces external epistemic dominance.

Moreover, rather than relying solely on Western AI models, African researchers should actively work toward creating datasets and AI tools that incorporate African languages, histories, and knowledge traditions. This requires significant investment in indigenous AI research and stronger collaborations between universities, governments, and tech developers.

By building AI systems that reflect African intellectual heritage and linguistic diversity, the continent can take ownership of AI’s role in shaping its educational future.

Digital divide


To prevent AI from deepening the digital divide, governments and universities must also invest in open-source AI initiatives that allow broader access to AI tools without dependence on expensive proprietary software.

Additionally, public-private partnerships can play a crucial role in improving internet connectivity and computational resources, ensuring that AI-driven education is not limited to elite institutions, but is accessible to students and educators across the continent.

Finally, AI policies in African higher education must be designed with ethical considerations at their core. Universities must establish clear frameworks for responsible AI use, safeguarding students’ data privacy and ensuring that AI tools do not perpetuate biases or inequalities.

Ethical AI governance will be essential in fostering trust and accountability while allowing AI to enhance learning experiences without compromising academic freedom or reinforcing systemic disparities.

By taking these strategic steps, African universities and policymakers can harness AI as a force for inclusion, innovation, and intellectual self-determination, rather than as a technology that exacerbates existing educational and infrastructural challenges.

Towards a more equitable AI-driven future


The question is no longer whether AI will influence African higher education, but how African universities will navigate this transformation. If left unchecked, AI could become another tool of epistemic exclusion, reinforcing knowledge hierarchies and excluding African voices from global academic discourse​.

However, if African universities take ownership of AI development and integrate it with a vision of educational equity, AI could serve as a tool for decolonising knowledge, expanding access to education, and empowering new generations of African scholars.

To achieve this future, African higher education must adopt a critical approach to AI, one that neither blindly embraces its promises nor rejects it out of fear.

Instead, universities must shape AI to align with the continent’s needs, histories, and aspirations. This means fostering AI literacy, building AI infrastructure, and developing AI models that are rooted in African epistemologies.

The future of African higher education in the AI era depends not on the technology itself, but on the choices that educators, students, and policymakers make today.

Will AI be used to further entrench global knowledge inequalities, or will it be harnessed to create a more just and inclusive higher education system?

The answer lies in how Africa defines and directs its own AI revolution. DM

Professor Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis is Director of the Ali Mazrui Centre for Higher Education Studies (Amches) at the University of Johannesburg.

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