AI4D expands to address safety, peace, security and social impact of AI
The African Hub on AI Safety, Peace and Security is the newest addition to the AI4D network of labs at public universities in Africa. Anchored at the University of Cape Town and co-led by the Global Center on AI Governance, the hub will work to ensure African priorities are represented in global AI safety debates and help strengthen democratic resilience, peace and inclusive development across the continent.
This is the twelfth multidisciplinary AI lab within the AI4D network in sub-Saharan Africa and the first dedicated to policy and governance issues. Co-funded by IDRC and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom (UK), AI4D strengthens responsible AI ecosystems by enabling experts in developing countries to design and lead solutions to their own development challenges.
Also in Cape Town, the UK government announced the launch of a new initiative called the AI Evidence Alliance for Social Impact — the first phase of a broader collaboration among global funders focused on advancing AI evaluation. The goal is to build a strong base of evidence to guide how AI is used and governed in low- and middle-income countries. The alliance will:
- fund research to find out which AI tools are effective, which aren’t, and who benefits
- share practical findings to help improve development outcomes, with a focus on Africa and Asia
- create a learning plan to track who’s working on what in the AI for development space, so efforts are better coordinated and not duplicated
Overall, this initiative aims to support smarter policies and more inclusive innovation around AI.
Born out of the AI for Development Funders’ Collaborative, the alliance is co-financed by IDRC, FCDO, Community Jameel and Google.org, with a total investment exceeding CAD5 million.
Maggie Gorman Velez, vice-president for Strategy, Regions and Policy at IDRC, said: "Artificial intelligence holds extraordinary potential, but only if the tools, knowledge and power to shape it are accessible to all — that includes contextually grounded research and evidence on their effectiveness in real-world application. That is why IDRC is proud to be supporting this new evaluation work as part of our ongoing commitment to the responsible scaling of proven safe, inclusive and locally relevant AI innovations.
For his part, UK Minister for AI and Online Safety Kanishka Narayan said: “AI has the power to fuel growth, build trust and transform lives — and every country should share in that. That’s why we’re backing African-led innovation that puts people first, tackles real-world challenges, and builds global resilience. By working with countries like South Africa, we’re making AI safer, fairer and more inclusive — and helping communities shape the future on their terms.”
These announcements come at a critical moment, as policymakers balance excitement around AI adoption and concern about its unintended consequences, especially in marginalized communities where risks are often amplified and benefits unevenly distributed.
“AI has the potential to help tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges, but we need evidence of which AI solutions work effectively, safely and fairly in order to maximise its impact,” explained George Richards, director of Community Jameel. “We are excited to be launching this new alliance to help generate the rigorous evidence we need and scale effective AI solutions to benefit communities around the world.”
Alex Diaz, head of AI for Social Good at Google.org, said: “AI has great potential to benefit all people but we urgently need to study what works, what doesn’t, and why if we are to realise this potential.”
Share this page