Masakhane | Shaping AI in Africa: Power, Practice and Possibility

This panel brings together voices from across the Masakhane ecosystem to take an honest look at where things stand and where they need to go. The conversation will span six interconnected themes: how #data is being collected on the ground and the ethical questions that come with it; the role of communities as active participants and builders; the current state of AI adoption across the continent, from thriving urban tech hubs to underserved rural areas; the policy frameworks emerging at national and continental levels; the long-neglected landscape of low-resource African languages and the models being built to serve them; and finally, a collective forward-looking discussion on what the future of AI should look like for Africa. Speakers: • Lydia Taban, Community Manager, Masakhane • Lilian Wanzare | Lecturer and chair of the Department of Computer Science, Maseno University • Bonaventure Dossou, PhD Candidate at McGill University x Mila Quebec AI Institute • Tajuddeen Gwadabe, Programs and MEL Lead at Masakhane African Languages Hub • Deborah Kanubala, Doctoral Researcher, Saarland University and Co-Founder of Parité Ethical AI Labs Facilitated by Leyla Roksan Caglar, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Windreich Department for AI & Human Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai #Masakhane is a grassroots organisation whose mission is to strengthen and spur #NLP research in #Africanlanguages, for Africans, by Africans. ****************** On May 22, 2026, the AI & Equality Initiative hosted its first #FestivalofIdeas: a global, one-day online gathering designed to reframe the conversation around artificial intelligence as a political reality to be shaped. A collective act of sense-making: it was a day of rigorous, cross-disciplinary exchange led by the organizations and thinkers doing the most urgent work at the intersection of algorithmic systems and human rights. Partner organizations led the festival's core panels bringing their regions, their research, and the lived realities of the communities they engage with into a shared space where critical theory and frontline practice spoke to each other. Join our AI & Equality Community: https://community.aiequalitytoolbox.com/