The Democratic Republic of the Congo has moved one step closer to adopting its first national strategy for artificial intelligence.
Representatives from public institutions, the private sector, universities and development partners approved the draft strategy during a technical-validation workshop, subject to amendments proposed by participants.
The framework is intended to organise Congo’s approach to AI around four broad priorities: rules and ethics, data and digital infrastructure, Congolese skills and research, and the creation of economic value through local industry.
This is an important policy milestone, but it is not the final adoption of the strategy. The government has not yet published the completed text, an implementation calendar, a dedicated budget or the date on which the framework will be formally approved.
The real test will be whether the document leads to affordable connectivity, reliable electricity, specialised education, local research, safe public services and opportunities for Congolese innovators.
What exactly has been validated?
According to MediaCongo, participants at the technical workshop approved the draft national AI strategy after reviewing it and proposing amendments.
Zoom Eco separately reported that the exercise brought together government, private-sector, academic and development representatives, with support from the World Bank.
Technical validation means experts and participating institutions have examined the draft and agreed that it can advance after revisions.
It does not mean the strategy has already become binding government policy. It also does not mean that the projects described in the framework have been financed or launched.
TECHNOLOGY
DRC Moves Closer to Adopting Its First National AI Strategy
Jul 30, 2026
Jul 30, 2026
10 min read
Published
Updated:
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has moved one step closer to adopting its first national strategy for artificial intelligence.
Representatives from public institutions, the private sector, universities and development partners approved the draft strategy during a technical-validation workshop, subject to amendments proposed by participants.
The framework is intended to organise Congo’s approach to AI around four broad priorities: rules and ethics, data and digital infrastructure, Congolese skills and research, and the creation of economic value through local industry.
This is an important policy milestone, but it is not the final adoption of the strategy. The government has not yet published the completed text, an implementation calendar, a dedicated budget or the date on which the framework will be formally approved.
The real test will be whether the document leads to affordable connectivity, reliable electricity, specialised education, local research, safe public services and opportunities for Congolese innovators.
What exactly has been validated?
According to MediaCongo, participants at the technical workshop approved the draft national AI strategy after reviewing it and proposing amendments.
Zoom Eco separately reported that the exercise brought together government, private-sector, academic and development representatives, with support from the World Bank.
Technical validation means experts and participating institutions have examined the draft and agreed that it can advance after revisions.
It does not mean the strategy has already become binding government policy. It also does not mean that the projects described in the framework have been financed or launched.
The next stages should include the incorporation of amendments, formal government adoption and publication of a practical implementation roadmap.
Why does the DRC need a national AI strategy?
Artificial intelligence is already changing education, healthcare, banking, agriculture, mining, media, security and public administration.
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Without a national framework, different institutions may purchase or use AI systems without common rules for privacy, security, transparency, local participation or accountability.
A strategy can give government agencies, universities, companies, investors and citizens a shared direction. It can identify where AI could solve Congolese problems, which safeguards must apply and what infrastructure and skills the country must build first.
The DRC also needs to decide whether it will remain mainly a consumer of foreign AI products or develop the capacity to create and control some of its own tools.
That choice has consequences for jobs, data protection, national security, language inclusion and the amount of economic value retained inside the country.
The four pillars of Congo’s proposed AI framework
1. Governance, regulation and ethics
The first priority is establishing rules for the responsible development and use of AI.
These rules should define how public institutions and companies collect data, explain automated decisions, protect personal information and respond when an AI system causes harm.
Important questions include:
When may a public institution use facial recognition or automated surveillance?
Can an algorithm make decisions about employment, credit, education, healthcare or public benefits?
Who is responsible when an automated system discriminates or produces a dangerous error?
Must citizens be told when they are interacting with AI?
How will the country respond to deepfakes, fraud and AI-generated disinformation?
UNESCO’s AI readiness profile for the DRC says the country still lacks a dedicated national AI strategy, a single coordinating body, a public-sector AI procurement policy and a national AI ethics commission.
The newly validated draft could begin closing that gap, but its final institutional arrangements have not yet been published.
Strong governance should protect citizens without preventing useful innovation. That requires rules that are clear enough for companies to follow and strong enough for people to trust.
2. Data, computing and digital infrastructure
AI cannot function at national scale without electricity, internet connectivity, secure data storage and computing capacity.
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This is one of the DRC’s largest challenges.
UNESCO’s readiness assessment describes digital and energy infrastructure as the country’s most serious constraint. Its public profile reports that 31% of the population used the internet and 22.1% had access to electricity in 2023.
The same assessment says the DRC has only a small number of data centres and no national cloud-computing policy.
That means an AI strategy cannot succeed as a document alone. It must connect with investment in:
national and provincial fibre networks;
affordable mobile and fixed internet;
stable electricity for schools, universities and businesses;
secure Congolese data centres;
cloud and high-performance computing;
national data standards and interoperable public databases; and
cybersecurity systems that protect critical infrastructure.
There is already a broader digital-investment programme that could support this foundation.
The Agence Congolaise de Presse reported in June that the World Bank and the French Development Agency are supporting a DRC digital-transformation programme that includes more than 11,500 kilometres of fibre, 650 additional connected communities and expanded digital services.
Those projects are broader than the AI strategy, but they could provide some of the infrastructure on which future AI services depend.
3. Congolese skills, education and research
The third priority is building human capacity.
The DRC will need software developers, data scientists, engineers, cybersecurity specialists and AI researchers. It will also need lawyers, teachers, doctors, public officials, journalists and business leaders who understand how to use and supervise AI responsibly.
UNESCO reports that only 15% of higher-education students are enrolled in STEM fields and that national AI research output remains limited.
The government previously identified human capital as a central part of the strategy.
When the drafting process began in October 2025, Digital Economy Minister Augustin Kibassa Maliba said Congo wanted to train young people for future careers, support research and innovation and develop a national AI academy. The RTNC also reported that priority applications included health, agriculture, education, security and public administration.
For young Congolese people, the strongest strategy would create visible pathways from school to training, research, entrepreneurship and employment.
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Possible measures could include university programmes, technical certificates, scholarships, research grants, public-sector training and startup support. These measures should not yet be presented as funded opportunities because the final roadmap has not been published.
Language inclusion will also matter.
Most global AI tools have been trained mainly on languages and data produced outside the DRC. UNESCO warns that digital content and training data remain limited in Lingala, Kiswahili, Tshiluba, Kikongo and indigenous Congolese languages.
A national strategy could encourage language datasets and tools designed for Congolese communities instead of requiring citizens to adapt to systems created for other countries.
4. Industrialisation and local economic value
The fourth pillar asks how AI can support production, businesses and national development.
The DRC has a strategic position in the physical supply chain behind the global digital economy. Its cobalt, copper, coltan and other minerals are important to electronics, energy storage and computing infrastructure.
However, exporting raw materials does not automatically make the country a digital or AI power.
UNESCO’s assessment says the opportunity is to move beyond raw-material exports through technology transfer, local training, digital mineral traceability and industrial zones connected to electronics and green energy.
For Congo, AI industrialisation could also mean supporting local startups, developing Congolese software, establishing research centres, assembling equipment and applying technology to domestic problems.
Priority uses could include:
helping farmers monitor crops, weather and plant disease;
improving medical screening and health-data analysis;
supporting learning tools adapted to Congolese schools and languages;
detecting fraud and irregularities in public finance;
improving mineral traceability and environmental monitoring;
predicting equipment failures in factories, mines and power systems;
managing traffic and public transport in growing cities; and
helping small businesses understand markets and customers.
These are potential applications, not services announced as operational through the technical-validation workshop.
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