Signal COMESA Opens Kigali Consultations to Draft Regional AI and Digital Inclusion Strategies

Summary

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) opened a four-day multi-stakeholder consultation in Kigali, Rwanda on August 6, 2026, to develop a Regional Artificial Intelligence Strategy and a Regional Digital Inclusion Strategy. The World Bank's IDEA Programme supported the process, which brought together senior officials, regulators, private-sector representatives, academia, and civil society. The first two days focused on assessing regional AI readiness and identifying priority use cases in agriculture, healthcare, and education, while the remaining two days addressed digital-inclusion barriers such as affordable connectivity, digital skills, and trust and safety. The Kigali gathering follows earlier national-level consultations in Kenya (June 29) and Zambia (July 13) as part of a phased regional rollout. Outcomes are expected to feed into a harmonized regional AI regulatory framework and digital-inclusion action plan, echoing a similar Kigali-declaration effort by the East African Community in April.