A Call to Action on AI and the Future of Economic Governance

A recent lecture preparation led me to Jean-Paul Carvalho, an Oxford economist, whose insights profoundly reframe the discourse around artificial intelligence. He issued a critical warning: “Faced with rapid progress, it is easy to fixate on the technological problem of AI control and lose sight of the political-economic problem… The pressing problem is not AI versus humans, but rather humans versus humans in the wake of AI”.

This perspective shifts AI from a simple man-versus-machine narrative to a powerful force reshaping human interaction, particularly concerning power, opportunity, and economic outcomes.

The true challenge, then, lies not in merely controlling advanced AI, but in proactively designing governance systems that mitigate inequity, prevent instability, and ensure the equitable distribution of AI’s benefits.

Economic governance, at its heart, dictates how we lead and what results that leadership yields. In the AI era, this mandate becomes even more urgent.

The Brookings Institution reports that AI could contribute a staggering US$15.7 trillion to global GDP by 2030. However, this prosperity is far from evenly distributed. Africa, Oceania, and parts of Asia are predicted to account for only US$1.2 trillion of this growth–a disparity reflecting not a lack of potential, but significant gaps in infrastructure, policy, and trust.

As Carvalho highlights, AI is not solely a technological hurdle; it is, fundamentally, a political-economic one, possessing the dual capacity to empower and to exclude. The famous adage, “The future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed”, perfectly encapsulates the current state, making AI governance both a tremendous opportunity and a significant risk.

This creates the ‘AI governance paradox’–those who stand to gain most from AI, especially in the Global South, frequently face the highest barriers to effectively harnessing it.

Effective AI governance must transcend aspirational ethics to establish mechanisms that demonstrably shape real-world outcomes. Strong institutions, inclusive policies, robust digital infrastructure, and forward-thinking regulatory frameworks are the bedrock upon which AI’s benefits can be realized.

As Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, emphasized at Davos, we must address both the intended benefits and unintended consequences concurrently, not as an afterthought. Fairness, safety, trust, and inclusion are not optional add-ons, they are foundational requirements.

At its core, governance extends beyond mere legislation; it’s about shaping behavior. This truth points us directly to the power of mechanism design. By strategically embedding incentives and disincentives into the systems governing AI, we can foster responsible innovation while actively discouraging harm.

Sam Altman of OpenAI reinforces this, advocating for agile feedback loops and continuous course correction. Mechanism design offers precisely this adaptive governance model, evolving in tandem with both technology and society.

This is where Africa’s significant opportunity emerges — if we decisively seize it. Our continent has a proven track record of leapfrogging technological stages, from widespread mobile payments to adopting cloud computing. Yet, as McKinsey points out, we have only begun to tap into our full potential.

The primary constraint remains data infrastructure. The majority of Africa’s data currently travels to servers abroad, leading to increased costs and privacy vulnerabilities. Investment in localized data centers is, therefore, not merely about speed, it is about sovereignty, resilience, and fostering economic inclusion.

Africa’s governance challenge is inextricably linked to its demographic dividend. By 2035, the continent will experience the world’s largest influx of young people entering the workforce. Emmanuel Gatera urges us to design AI ecosystems that genuinely reflect the aspirations of Africa’s youth. While countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt are making commendable strides, a broader, coordinated pan-African effort is essential to amplify their impact.

Governments must cultivate enabling environments. Businesses must prioritize investments in solutions that are locally relevant and impactful. Academia and civil society, in turn, must hold both accountable.

We must proactively design systems that inherently reflect our unique values and effectively address our specific challenges. Without decisive action, we risk becoming mere consumers of technologies that neither fully understand nor adequately serve our needs.

The fundamental question is not whether AI will fundamentally reshape our economies — it undeniably will. The critical question is whether our governance systems can adequately rise to this monumental moment.

In the age of AI, robust and forward-thinking economic governance is the ultimate competitive advantage. For Africa, the stakes are profoundly clear: we must either lead in shaping our own future or risk being shaped by the designs of others.

As Landry Signé of the Brookings Institution articulates, so powerfully, “The time for excuses is over. The future of Africa will be brighter if everyone takes responsibility.”

That responsibility is unequivocally ours — to govern wisely, act collectively, and ensure that artificial intelligence becomes a potent tool for inclusion, not a catalyst for further inequality.