Speaker
Description
Ahule, B. G.
Rev. Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu University, Makurdi
bahule@bsum.edu.ng
Track: Research, Innovation and Knowledge Ecosystems
The discourse on artificial intelligence (AI) in Africa has been dominated by imported frameworks that often fail to address the continent's unique realities. This paper argues that sustainable AI advancement requires a fundamental reorientation towards local innovation ecosystems that integrate Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) with AI through participatory co-design. Drawing on scholarship and three detailed case studies—the ITIKI drought early warning system in Kenya, co-design projects with Indigenous San communities in Namibia, and community-driven digital hubs across East Africa—we examine how participatory approaches bridge traditional and scientific knowledge systems. The ITIKI system demonstrates that integrating farmer knowledge with AI can achieve up to 98% forecast accuracy and 14% crop yield increases. The Namibian co-design projects reveal that culturally grounded AI interfaces foster trust and empower communities. Community-driven digital hubs show that inclusion requires locally owned, ethically grounded ecosystems. We introduce the "Wisdom Loop" as a conceptual framework that centers African epistemologies within AI design processes, emphasizing relational accountability, oral knowledge transmission, and collective sense-making. Drawing on Ubuntu philosophy and participatory ethics, the framework operationalizes five components: ancestral insight and community values, participatory co-design, ethical data collection, collective interpretation, and return of benefits to communities. We conclude that meaningful AI transformation in Africa must move beyond technology transfer and data extractivism to embrace culturally grounded, ethically accountable, and community-led innovation practices with significant implications for policymakers, developers, and researchers.