Is Artificial Intelligence Capable of Solving the Issues Affecting the Global South?
Johannesburg – An increasing amount of research is dedicating attention to the ongoing Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution, exploring both its opportunities and threats.
The significant effects on various economic sectors, global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and employment have been discussed, highlighting the necessity for effective governance, legislation, and safety regulations.
Nevertheless, academic efforts have primarily concentrated on the Global North, particularly the United States and Europe.
What about the Global South?
Which nations are considered part of the Global South?
What does Artificial Intelligence encompass?
How can Artificial Intelligence be leveraged to stimulate the economies of the Global South?
In what ways can this technological upheaval be utilized to tackle the challenges faced by less industrialized and emerging economies?
How can AI be employed to enhance the living conditions of individuals in these regions?
Are these economies prepared to embrace AI?
What steps can they take to effectively prepare for and adopt AI across all sectors?
More crucially, how can the Global South position itself as a significant player in the research, development, and production of AI technologies, systems, and applications?
What about the essential hardware for AI systems—the semiconductor chips that fuel AI?
Why can’t the Global South participate in this highly profitable sector?
This focused exploration of AI and the Global South has been noticeably absent in existing literature.
This book aims to fill that void. It centers on the critical role of Artificial Intelligence in facilitating governance and socio-economic development within the Global South.
In other words, the book examines how AI can act as a catalyst for inclusive development and shared prosperity among emerging and less industrialized economies.
However, the embrace and utilization of AI must not occur in isolation.
Forget AI.
Broad (non-AI) strategies must be implemented to address the longstanding issues afflicting developing economies:
Poverty, unemployment, inequality, poor governance, corruption, incompetence, democratic deficit, energy poverty, inadequate infrastructure, conflict and insecurity, demographic pressures, global economic disparities, geopolitical concerns, cultural and social degradation, and restricted access to technology and innovation.
A particular kind of state is essential to confront these challenges—a capable, ethical, democratic, and developmental state.
Countries in the Global South must evolve into such effective regimes.
Only within this framework will AI serve as a meaningful driver for inclusive development and shared prosperity.
The AI-powered Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), which commenced in 2011, builds upon the Third Industrial Revolution (1965-2011), characterized by electronics and information and communication technology (ICT).
Artificial Intelligence serves as the DNA of the 4IR.
Many nations in the Global South did not derive substantial benefits from the first three industrial revolutions.
Slavery persisted from 1619 to 1865, while colonialism dominated many emerging and least industrialized African economies from 1884 to 1994.
Even during the so-called post-colonial era, neocolonialism and imperialism continue to harm and afflict the Global South.
It appears that the citizens of emerging and least industrialized nations have been the subjects and casualties of the initial three technological revolutions.
The AI-driven 4IR offers a distinctive opportunity for the Global South to take agency, become vital actors, and harness technology to achieve inclusive development and shared prosperity.
Admittedly, it might be perceived as overly ambitious to advocate for the application of AI across such a diverse range of countries with differing cultures, development histories, economic frameworks, and demographics.
Nevertheless, the potential for sharing best practices and emerging experiences among these nations, along with the significance of South-South cooperation, integration, and scale, presents a clear and compelling value proposition.
Indeed, Artificial Intelligence can be utilized as a catalyst for economic growth and industrialization in emerging and least industrialized nations.
The technology has the capability to profoundly influence these economies in various fields, presenting both opportunities and challenges.
AI systems can fuel economic growth by enhancing productivity, efficiency, and innovation.
The Global South can harness AI across all sectors, including agriculture, mining, manufacturing, banking and finance, tourism and hospitality, education, and healthcare, to accelerate economic development.
A wave of bold declarations regarding AI and its infrastructure in January 2025 from leaders in the Global North, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, then-US President Joe Biden, and current US President Donald Trump (immediately following his inauguration), underscores the urgent and transformative potential of this technology on a global scale.
These advanced economies view AI as a pivotal driver of competitiveness across all sectors and are mobilizing significant investments in AI research and infrastructure.
China’s introduction, on January 20, 2025, of an innovative open-source, low-cost, and less energy-intensive Large Language Model dubbed DeepSeek-R1, which rivals OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4, Google’s Gemini, and xAI’s Grok 3, highlights immense possibilities for the Global South.
The strong message is clear:
Yes, individuals and institutions from emerging and least industrialized nations can create globally competitive AI systems.
They can be innovators in AI rather than mere consumers!
It must be recognized that considerable diversity exists within the Global South.
Asian nations such as China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia are significantly more advanced in terms of policy and governance frameworks, economic productivity, manufacturing capabilities, and naturally, the development and implementation of AI systems, compared to their counterparts in Africa and Latin America.
However, the shared historical and economic contexts of most countries in the Global South during the 1950s and 1960s necessitate that they be studied collectively to extract lessons across these economies.
For instance, African nations could gain insights from understanding how China lifted 800 million individuals out of poverty in just 40 years.
Ghana and Singapore had comparable GDPs in 1965 (USD 0.97 billion and USD 1.2 billion, respectively).
Yet, by 2024, their GDPs differ significantly at USD 76 billion and USD 501.4 billion, respectively.
What transpired?
Ultimately, countries within the Global South can indeed learn from one another.
Thus, their AI-based opportunities, experiences, challenges, and successes must be collectively examined.
Applications of AI in precision agriculture, crop monitoring, and data-driven decision-making can enhance agricultural practices, increase productivity, and address food security challenges in the Global South.
AI-enhanced healthcare solutions, such as telemedicine, diagnostic tools, and predictive analytics, can improve healthcare accessibility in areas with a shortage of medical professionals.
Remote monitoring and AI diagnostics can facilitate the early detection of diseases.
Moreover, AI can enhance educational opportunities by offering personalized learning experiences, automating administrative duties, and broadening access to academic resources.
This is particularly vital in regions with restricted access to quality education, as is the case in certain Global South communities.
Many banking and financial systems in the Global South remain underdeveloped.
AI-driven fintech innovations can foster financial inclusion by providing access to banking services, credit, and insurance.
Mobile banking, digital wallets, and AI-based credit scoring mechanisms can empower individuals, small enterprises, and communities.
Thus, within the Global South, AI applications can empower local communities by addressing specific issues, such as energy poverty, food security, water management, environmental sustainability, and development.
Community-oriented AI initiatives can be designed to meet local needs.
Furthermore, AI can improve access to information and services in areas with inadequate infrastructure.
Chatbots, virtual assistants, and AI-powered interfaces can provide information and assistance, particularly in remote or underserved communities.
Concerning infrastructure development, AI can aid in optimizing planning and development efforts.
Smart city projects, intelligent transportation systems, and energy-efficient solutions can improve infrastructure in urban and rural locales.
However, these potential AI-driven benefits won’t automatically manifest in the Global South.
These nations must proactively prepare for AI adoption and implement effective strategies and mechanisms for its execution.
An AI ecosystem approach involving collaboration among governments, businesses, researchers, investors, venture capitalists, and international organizations will be essential.
Partnerships can facilitate knowledge sharing, technology transfer, and collaborative initiatives.
More critically, connections with the Global North must lead to the Global South becoming producers and owners of AI technologies, tools, and systems.
Additionally, developing nations must engage in the AI semiconductor industry—the profitable venture of producing chips necessary for AI functionality.
The book delves into the conceptualization, governance, and economies of the Global South.
It specifically presents and discusses the problems and challenges that characterize these nations.
The goal is to pinpoint potential redemptive AI interventions within these economies.
The extent to which the Global South is involved in the production of knowledge and technology is critically examined.
Additionally, the uptake and application of technological innovation are assessed.
The book provides an introduction to Artificial Intelligence in the context of the 4IR, discussing the key drivers of the 4IR, along with outlining the classification, applications, and examples of AI systems.
Issues of AI safety and the potential risks associated with the technology are also analyzed.
AI poses challenges, risks, and dangers—this is the Dark Side of Artificial Intelligence.
The book scrutinizes these matters.
Specifically, concerns regarding deepfakes, cyberattacks, AI bad actors, autonomous weapons systems (AWS), and autonomous nuclear weapons systems (ANWS) are highlighted.
The application and adoption of AI in the Global South is neither automatic nor guaranteed.
In fact, participation by emerging and least industrialized economies in AI system and semiconductor chip production is far from straightforward.
The cart must not be placed before the horse.
Fundamental issues must be addressed first.
These encompass basic infrastructure, energy and power, funding and investment, digital framework, computing resources, talent and expertise, financial literacy, foundational education, and mindset.
The book outlines the essential measures necessary to ensure the safe and effective integration of AI in the Global South.
It addresses various questions.
How can developing nations prepare for and adapt to the transformative AI Revolution?
What enablers are necessary for successful uptake?
What about potential inhibitors and barriers?
What defines an empowering AI ecosystem for emerging and least industrialized countries?
Moreover, the book advocates for identifying AI leapfrogging opportunities while promoting Global South-specific AI governance, regulations, and ethical considerations.
The significance of regional and continental integration in the AI adoption strategy is also emphasized.
Simultaneously, specific recommendations are made regarding how public and private institutions should react to and thrive in the AI revolution.
A case is made for the research, development, production, and stewardship of AI technologies within the Global South.
Of course, the region must endeavor to apply AI across all socio-political and economic domains.
The book discusses interventions in detail across 11 sectors:
Education, Agriculture, Mining, Mobile Telephony, Legal Profession, Banking and Finance, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Public Works, Tourism and Hospitality, and Governance.
Thus, the book tackles AI’s value proposition to the development agenda of the Global South, focusing on its critical industries.
For each sector, the challenges are elucidated, and broad non-AI solutions are proposed initially.
Nations in the Global South must share learnings from each other, both broadly and specifically, concerning AI adoption and development.
The book presents and reviews 10 case studies from developing nations: China, India, Singapore, Rwanda, Malaysia, Mauritius, South Africa, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Zimbabwe.
The aim is to gather best practices from these countries’ AI experiences and disseminate key learnings across the Global South.
Each case study reviews the country’s general strengths and achievements within its economy, drawing lessons from these analyses.
Subsequently, AI-based interventions are discussed, and key takeaways are identified.
Regional and continental AI initiatives are also evaluated, particularly the African Union’s (AU) blueprint released in July 2024, titled “Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy: Harnessing AI for Africa’s Development and Prosperity.”
Likewise, the book critiques the Final Report of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Body, titled “Governing AI for Humanity: A Global Framework for AI Oversight,” released on September 19, 2024.
To pave the way forward, the book proposes that each nation in the Global South create and implement a National AI Strategic Framework consisting of six distinct yet interconnected components:
Vision, Strategy, Policy, Governance, Legislation and Regulation, and Implementation Matrix.
These national frameworks need to align with analogous regional, continental, and trans-continental ones.
Economies of scale and regulatory harmonization must be prioritized in the AI adoption process.
For instance, apart from their national AI strategies, Zambia and South Africa should capitalize on regional advantages through the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African continent, and the Global South.
However, such endeavors can only succeed if anchored by bold, visionary, strategic, and tech-savvy leadership at the organizational, national, regional, continental, and global scales.
Leadership is paramount!
Emerging and least industrialized nations require leaders capable of crafting and articulating a clear, compelling, and technology-driven vision that motivates their citizens and institutions to achieve inclusive development and shared prosperity.
These transformational innovators must possess a unique combination of foresight, passion, and creativity, enabling them to rise above the current challenges in the Global South and recognize AI opportunities, trends, and hurdles.
They must excel in strategic thinking and have a robust understanding of both history and geopolitics, particularly the intricate and often exploitative dynamics between the Global South and the Global North.
In this light, leaders from the Global South must take calculated risks and boldly drive economic transformations through technology adoption.
While humanity must anticipate, mitigate, and manage AI-related threats, it must also concentrate on utilizing AI to confront global challenges.
Yet, the advantages of AI are not universally assured around the globe.
The Global South must adequately prepare for AI integration and truly engage in its deployment and execution.
Can AI create more issues than it resolves in emerging and least industrialized nations, which have numerous easily automated jobs and a substantial informal sector?
For instance, could the technology result in job losses and increased unemployment, exacerbating inequality, poverty, and marginalization in the Global South?
This book proposes a strategy for AI that mitigates such potential risks.
The context and challenges specific to the Global South must be acknowledged while necessary AI enablers, including governance, regulations, legislation, ethics, and safety measures, are established to achieve these outcomes.
There must be initiatives to retrain individuals affected by job displacement, in addition to developing new skills and competencies for AI-modified and entirely new roles.
The quantity of modified and new jobs must surpass those that are lost.
The people and industries of the Global South must evolve from being mere consumers of knowledge, technology, and innovations to becoming producers and owners of AI technology while striving to apply AI across all socio-political and economic sectors.
While it is crucial and non-negotiable to embrace a wide array of enabling technologies, with a particular emphasis on AI, it must also be recognized that risks of technology-driven challenges such as digital imperialism and data colonialism exist, especially in emerging and least industrialized communities.
Leaders in the Global South must engage thoroughly with decoloniality—a framework aimed at dismantling the structures and power dynamics established during and after colonialism, which may influence the nature and content of AI systems.
Moreover, democratizing AI—ensuring that technology, tools, knowledge, and opportunities are accessible to a broader spectrum of people, communities, organizations, countries, and beyond—is vital to avoid concentration of benefits among a privileged minority.
Globally, democratizing AI is the only path through which its advantages will be distributed equitably, including within the Global South.
These emerging and least industrialized nations must seize agency and actively seek to deploy AI for inclusive development and shared prosperity.
Indeed, Artificial Intelligence can be the solution to the myriad challenges confronting the Global South.
This is an excerpt from the new book available on Amazon and Routledge – see the links below:
1) Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Intelligence-Inclusive-Development-Prosperity/dp/1032833718/
2) Routledge
https://www.routledge.com/Artificial-Intelligence-A-Driver-of-Inclusive-Development-and-Shared-Prosperity-for-the-Global-South/GOMutambara/p/book/9781032833712