AI, Democracy and Environmental Justice in Africa

Abstract

This paper analyzes the environmental cost of expanding AI data centers across Africa as such developments pose significant ecological risks, including land clearing, intensified water consumption, and the loss of native biodiversity. I argue that liberal democratic systems in many African contexts face the problem of “negotiated capture” with the expansion of data centers, wherein powerful socio-economic interests override environmental priorities and marginalize local concerns. As a result, environmental degradation becomes routinely externalized from formal decision-making processes. To address this problem, I propose centering the African communalism thesis, grounded in principles of collective well-being and relational interdependence, as a normative framework for advancing environmental justice in the governance of AI infrastructure development on the continent.