Dakar, Senegal— Calls for robust legislation governing artificial intelligence (AI) echoed across West Africa this week as regional lawmakers and education stakeholders gathered in Dakar, Senegal, for a strategic meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament Joint Committee.
The session is centered on “Prioritizing Education Technology and Innovation in the ECOWAS Region” and serves as a platform to discuss how digital tools and AI can reshape learning systems.
The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hadja Memounatou Ibrahima, speaking through her deputy Adjaratou Coulibaly, highlighted the pressing need for a comprehensive legal structure to guide AI deployment across member states.
She emphasized that digital transformation in education should be a central goal, aligned with both the ECOWAS Parliament’s mission and the expectations of West African citizens. According to Ibrhima, modern educational models are essential for the region to keep pace with global technological advancements.
According to the 2003 Protocol on Education and Training adopted in Dakar, she pointed out that while the region is rich in youth and cultural diversity, its education systems still face hurdles.
Infrastructure deficits, unequal digital access, and lagging policy implementation in some countries were identified as key barriers.
“Access to digital tools in schools must become the norm if Africa intends to compete in the global knowledge economy,” she stated. She also posed thought-provoking questions about the ethical and human dimensions of AI in classrooms, asking how education systems can remain human-centered even as AI becomes more prominent.
Senegal’s Minister of National Education, Moustapha Guirassy, echoed these sentiments while urging African nations to take charge of AI innovation rather than merely consuming technologies developed elsewhere.
He revealed that Senegal has earmarked over 1,100 billion CFA francs for education, with 130 billion dedicated specifically to digital education reforms.
According to Guirassy, AI is already influencing Senegalese education tools that track academic performance, while both teachers and students are being introduced to AI and algorithmic thinking.
He proposed a regional agreement—a West Africa AI Pact—focused on ethical government, local language integration, and long-term strategy for AI in schools.
As discussions continue in Dakar, participants aim to draft actionable regional policies to ensure that technology uplifts education without leaving any child behind.
Trokon S. Wrepue is a Liberian journalist with 9 years of experience in the practice of journalism. Over the years, Trokon has reported on women and children issues, investigated public and private sectors corruption, environmental challenges and other critical human interest stories. He is currently the Editor of News for OK FM, one of Liberia’s premier media institutions in Monrovia. Besides being a journalist, Trokon is also a Mandela Washington Fellow. In 2022, he travelled to California in the US where he studied leadership, culture and diversities at the California State University. In 2023, he travelled to Johannesburg in South Africa and attended the Mandela Washington Fellowship Symposium of Young African Leaders.
