New Delhi: The trilateral cooperation agreement on artificial intelligence at the AI Impact Summit between Italy, India and Kenya will foster “AI-driven development across Africa, with a strong emphasis on local empowerment, sustainability, and inclusive innovation,” a new report has said.
The report from AIBase.ng said the initiative emphasises co‑creation and African‑led development ensuring that AI tools reflect the social, economic, and cultural contexts of African communities. The new initiative is more collaborative unlike “traditional AI partnerships, which often involve technology transfer from developed countries,” the report suggested.
Further, the new pact supports data sovereignty, ensuring that African nations control their own data and AI systems. AI solutions developed under this agreement will target challenges in agriculture, healthcare, education and financial inclusion, the report further said.
Short‑term goals under the agreement include launching 15 pilot AI applications by the end of 2026, while long‑term ambitions aim to expand to around 100 projects across the continent, the report further said.
The agreement emphasises ethical and inclusive AI, reducing the risk of technologies that may not suit local contexts and includes research networks, computing resources, and digital platforms to support AI innovation.
The partnership reinforces Kenya’s position as a regional technology hub and gateway for innovation across Africa and India will gain from robust South–South cooperation and showcasing scalable, human-centric digital solutions, the Nigeria-based media house said.
“Italy acts as a bridge between Europe, Asia, and Africa, leveraging initiatives such as the Mattei Plan’s AI Hub for Sustainable Development to facilitate collaboration,” it added.The ‘AI Impact Summit 2026’, held in New Delhi last week, concluded with the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration on AI Impact, marking a significant milestone in global cooperation on artificial intelligence.
“As on February 21, 2026, 88 countries and international organisations had endorsed this declaration. Since then, 3 more countries — Bangladesh, Costa Rica and Guatemala — have joined the declaration, taking the total number of signatories to 91 countries and organisations,” Ministry of Electronics and IT said in a statement.
