Africa must invest in AI as a strategic instrument for social cohesion, economic growth, and cultural identity -by Lakinbofa Goodluck
At the turn of the millennium, when computer adoption and literacy was gaining attention in Nigeria, I remember a church event where a respected woman stood up and warned that the computer was the introduction of the anti-Christ. She submitted that if you entered all the number s and algorithms in a computer, the result would be 666, the mark of the beast.
I was young and not knowledgeable enough to challenge her, but I often wonder how she feels today, seeing that it is now impossible to work in the corporate world without a computer. Incidentally, she was a company secretary.
That experience reminds me that the fear surrounding artificial intelligence today is not new. It is a familiar response to every major technological shift. I see AI as an executive assistant that only the wealthy once could afford but is now available to everyone. And, like every assistant, its usefulness depends on the clarity of the instructions we give it. The reality is that AI will soon become part of almost everything we do.
Are there dangers? Certainly. I recently came across a TikTok video created with AI that described an incident supposedly involving my company, except that nothing of the sort ever happened. Yet many would see the video, believe it without question, and even share it. Synthetic content now spreads faster than truth and demands new ways of verifying information.
The more worrying reality is Africa’s recurring late entry into shaping global technologies. Those who design these systems define their logic and biases. If Africa must overcome exclusion and algorithmic bias, both companies and governments must invest deliberately in AI, not as an afterthought, but as a strategic instrument for social cohesion, economic growth, and cultural identity.
Download “AI Ethics in Africa’s Media and Communications Landscape: A Readiness Framework for 2026 & Beyond” at [bhmng.com/AIEthicsWhitePaper]
Dr. Lakinbofa Goodluck is the Public Relations Manager at MTN Nigeria
