The World Association for Artificial Intelligence Cooperation (WAICO), supported by China, has the potential to improve coordination and governance of global AI so that countries in the Global South and Africa are not left behind.
As major powers define the boundaries of artificial intelligence (AI)—a technology capable of transforming societies, economies, and security worldwide—African nations and much of the Global South find themselves on the threshold of new opportunities for global civilization and unknown challenges.
Africa is underrepresented in the field of global AI because the continent itself does not develop its own AI technologies and tools. Despite accounting for 20% of the world's population, Africa holds only about 2.5% of the global AI market and approximately 5% of the global workforce in this area.
Despite the growing adoption of AI tools by tech entrepreneurs, the continent and a significant part of the Global South face numerous obstacles, including high costs, lack or uneven policy adoption, and general marginalization from technological production.
The creation of WAICO opens unique opportunities for the fair multilateral distribution of public technological goods for the benefit of all humanity. At the time of writing, the WAICO agreement had been signed by about 38 countries from Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
The signing ceremony was attended by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, which took place on July 16 in Shanghai, China.
The framework of WAICO provides for multilateral cooperation among its members to strengthen international interaction in the field of AI and ensure that this technology truly serves the interests of humanity.
According to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, China has jointly created WAICO with other countries to build a fairer and more equitable system of global AI governance and promote the development of artificial intelligence for the greater good, with greater inclusivity and benefit for all of humanity.
During his keynote speech at the World Conference on Artificial Intelligence, President Xi Jinping emphasized the increasing importance of cooperation, especially with the Global South, in shaping global AI governance through the promotion of a true multilateral approach.
He welcomed the creation of the new organization as 'a significant step by China in response to the call of the Global South and the unification of the international community to actively promote the development and governance of AI.'
WAICO, headquartered in Shanghai, serves as an important platform for establishing norms of global AI governance, advocating for the common interests of the Global South. This marks a transition from formulating AI governance principles to creating permanent institutions through which these principles can be implemented and normalized.
WAICO represents a major step toward creating global institutions regulating AI, standards, technical cooperation, professional networks, and practices aimed at widely shared aspirations for mutually beneficial modernization.
The organization's goal is to promote international cooperation and global AI governance, ensuring that AI is useful, safe, and fair, thereby contributing to its healthy and orderly development for the benefit of all humanity.
The signed agreement stipulates that WAICO will support the goals of the UN Charter while allowing extensive consultation and joint contribution to achieve common benefits realized through human-centric approaches.
Under WAICO, China will 'support the development of global AI and promote the building of global AI capacity' over the next five years, providing 5000 opportunities for AI training to developing countries.
China will also establish AI cooperation centers with ASEAN, the African Union, the League of Arab States, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and BRICS, and invite 30 countries to use China's AI-based meteorological warning system, MAZU.
China is a particularly important country regarding the development and governance of AI systems. It is among the first countries in the world to implement rules governing the use of AI systems, with some of the earliest and most detailed rules concerning recommendation algorithms enacted in 2021.
China's experience in AI and its role in WAICO provide a unique platform for African countries and the Global South to bridge the technological gap.
China is a leading provider of basic information, communication, and technological infrastructure across Africa and much of the Global South.
Through various bilateral and multilateral initiatives, Beijing has provided integrated ecosystems of models, services, computing resources, standards, training, digital public infrastructure, and more accessible and user-friendly open-source AI tools to narrow the technological divide between rich and poor countries. Open source is crucial for democratizing AI.
Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE have built, it is estimated, 70% of the 4G infrastructure in Africa, laying the physical foundation for smart cities and other technological integration.
At the FOCAS Summit in 2024, China and Africa announced a plan to implement 20 digital infrastructure projects between 2025 and 2027, many of which have agricultural applications.
Several Chinese and African universities, such as China Agricultural University, Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University, and Cairo University, have also entered into partnerships to develop AI solutions for pest and disease detection.
According to Robert Tame Lisinge, Director of Technology, Innovation, Connectivity, and Infrastructure at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the growing partnership between China and Africa has accelerated AI adoption, narrowing the digital divide on the continent. African countries cooperate with China in a way that allows for capacity building and technology transfer, empowering their communities through the creation of basic infrastructure, data centers, research, and development.
Africans are increasingly using more accessible Chinese AI models to create technologies capable of processing African languages or making accurate decisions in specific African contexts.
African developers primarily turn to Chinese platforms such as DeepSeek, Qwen, and Kimi to create artificial intelligence models in their languages. For example, Ernest Mwebaze's Sunflower LLM, which can use 31 Ugandan languages, was built on Qwen 3, an open-source Chinese model developed by Alibaba.
China also provides AI that is familiar with African languages, learns faster, and is cheaper. Compared to expensive US cloud services, Chinese open-source AI models and infrastructure reduce operational costs in Africa by up to 90%.
Developers in countries such as Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa are adapting and applying China-driven AI tools to solve local problems, including optimizing agricultural drones, weather forecasting through platforms like MAZU, and digital business processing.
Countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Africa have signed international AI cooperation agreements with China, promoting broader participation in technology-based inclusive modernization in Africa.
The transformative potential opened up by AI provides new opportunities for Africa's youth to utilize abundant resources and new technologies for economic growth, job creation, and entrepreneurship.
The African Union's AI strategy, launched in 2024, calls on African countries to leverage the benefits of artificial intelligence, build capacity, minimize risks, stimulate technology-based investments, and promote continental and international cooperation.
This strategy, aligned with the AU's Agenda 2063, places AI at the center of efforts to develop health, agriculture, education, and finance, while calling for the use of AI in a way that allows all nations to participate, as well as ensuring the inclusive use and distribution of technological resources and benefits.
Thus, WAICO strengthens a true multilateral approach through mutually beneficial technological and AI cooperation.
