Africa's Digital Progress and the Need for Policy Adjustments: Are Governments Adequate for the Digital Age?
The Lusaka Declaration, unveiled at the Africa Digital Parliamentary Summit held in Lusaka, Zambia from 9-11 July 2025, marks a significant milestone in Africa's digital transformation journey. Hosted by the Pan African Parliament (PAP), African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), and the GSMA, the summit brought together lawmakers, technical experts, and stakeholders from across Africa to discuss and develop legislative frameworks for artificial intelligence (AI), digital health, data protection, and smart manufacturing.
The Lusaka Declaration outlines shared priorities and next steps for ensuring Africa's digital transformation is inclusive, responsible, and grounded in evidence-based policy. Here are some key policy directions from the declaration:
**AI and Data Protection**
The declaration emphasises the importance of developing AI regulations that balance innovation with ethical considerations and human rights protections. This includes creating AI regulations that are Africa-centric, respecting African values and principles. The declaration also highlights the need for harmonized data governance across Africa, protecting data privacy while facilitating the use of data for digital development.
**Digital Health**
The Lusaka Declaration identifies digital health as a core pillar of Africa's socio-economic development, with a projected growth of $6.5 billion by 2030. The declaration prioritises the development of cross-border digital health infrastructure to enhance access to healthcare services across Africa, leveraging digital technologies to improve health outcomes and reduce inequities in healthcare access. Digital health is seen as a critical pathway to achieving universal health coverage in Africa, and the declaration supports policies that foster collaboration and innovation in digital health to achieve this goal.
**Smart Manufacturing**
Smart manufacturing is recognised as a catalyst for industrial resilience in Africa. The declaration supports policies that encourage the adoption of smart manufacturing technologies to enhance Africa's industrial competitiveness. The focus is on investing in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education to provide the necessary skills for driving innovation in smart manufacturing and other digital sectors.
**Privacy and General Digital Transformation**
The establishment of 'Evidence-to-Policy' units is a key recommendation to provide lawmakers with ongoing technical support, ensuring that policies are informed by data and research. The declaration also proposes regional forums to standardize digital legislation across Africa, ensuring a cohesive approach to digital transformation.
The Lusaka Declaration calls for the development of Model Laws on AI, Data Protection, and Privacy. It also emphasises the importance of continuous technical training and knowledge exchange for MPs and staff on AI ethics, digital health, and smart manufacturing. The declaration stresses the need for investment in advanced connectivity infrastructure, such as 5G, especially around Special Economic Zones.
The Lusaka Declaration further calls for a structured follow-up through an annual Africa Digital Parliamentary Summit to track progress and support policy harmonisation. It urges support for local innovation, including startups and research institutions developing context-specific solutions. The declaration also highlights the need to mobilise resources, technical expertise, and multi-sectoral partnerships to strengthen infrastructure and policy implementation.
The infrastructure to deliver on the projected growth in digital health remains uneven across African countries. The declaration calls for the integration of Industry 4.0 into national policies and links smart manufacturing to AfCFTA goals, urging regulatory reform that supports regional value chains and cross-border industrial cooperation.
Honourable Behdja Mokrani, Chairperson of the Pan-African Parliament Committee on Transport, Industry, Communications, Energy, Science and Technology, emphasised the importance of AI in addressing challenges in healthcare, industry, and transportation. The Lusaka Declaration also calls for the establishment of a normative standards framework for Digital Health Initiatives (DHIs) to ensure international benchmarks are met.
In conclusion, the Lusaka Declaration provides a comprehensive framework for guiding Africa's digital transformation in a way that is inclusive, sustainable, and responsive to the continent's unique needs and challenges. The declaration sets a continent-wide digital agenda and outlines responsibilities for parliamentarians, the private sector, and civil society, aiming to strengthen legislative understanding of key digital issues in Africa and support Africa's digital revolution.
- The Lusaka Declaration highlights the necessity of creating AI regulations that balance innovation with ethical considerations, human rights protections, and African values and principles.
- To enhance access to healthcare services across Africa, the declaration prioritizes the development of cross-border digital health infrastructure, leveraging digital technologies to improve health outcomes and reduce inequities.
- Smart manufacturing is recognized as a catalyst for industrial resilience in Africa, and the declaration supports policies that encourage the adoption of smart manufacturing technologies.
- To ensure that policies are informed by data and research, the establishment of 'Evidence-to-Policy' units is a key recommendation in the Lusaka Declaration.
- The Lusaka Declaration calls for the development of Model Laws on AI, Data Protection, and Privacy, and emphasizes the importance of continuous technical training and knowledge exchange for parliamentarians.
- The declaration stresses the need for investment in advanced connectivity infrastructure, such as 5G, especially around Special Economic Zones.
- The Lusaka Declaration further advocates for a structured follow-up through an annual Africa Digital Parliamentary Summit, urging support for local innovation, including startups and research institutions.
