Governing Africa's Digital Infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence for Regional Anti-Corruption and Public Service Delivery
Abstract
Africa’s digital transformation is advancing faster than the governance frameworks required to make digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI) accountable, inclusive and effective. This study examines how digital infrastructure and AI interact with anti-corruption efforts and public service delivery across eight African states: Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Ethiopia, Mauritius, and Egypt. Using an integrative documentary review, the study synthesises findings across digital public infrastructure, AI anti-corruption tools, institutional capacity, and regional governance. A structured comparative coding framework evaluates governance readiness across the target African states using explicit legal, institutional, and technical criteria. The findings reveal a persistent sequencing failure; public administrations deploy AI systems amid uneven connectivity, infrastructure deficits, fragmented administrative systems, skills shortages, and incomplete regulatory frameworks. Digital public infrastructure strengthens traceability and service efficiency when it is supported by data protection laws, institutional oversight and equitable access. The study advances an integrated regional governance framework structured around four reinforcing pillars: enforceable continental standards, interoperable digital public infrastructure, coordinated institutional mandates, and outcome-based monitoring. The study points out that Africa’s strategic priority should not be AI deployment in isolation but the deliberate construction of the legal, infrastructural and institutional conditions that make AI governable. Regional coordination through the African Union and Regional Economic Communities remains vital for cross-border data governance, cybersecurity, digital sovereignty and public-sector algorithmic accountability. The study concludes that Africa’s digital transformation will deliver sustainable public value only when technological ambition is sequenced with institutional capacity, legal legitimacy and inclusive governance.