Wednesday, October 23, 2025

Global Majority countries have distinct needs and experience different harms from Artificial Intelligence (AI).

This week, CAS Strategies and Diplomatic Courier hosted the inaugural Global AI Action Forum, a day-long convening gathering principal-level decision makers from 12 Global Majority countries including government officials and leading experts from civil society and industry to coalesce around a policy agenda to inform global AI governance developments for the upcoming French AI Action Summit, scheduled for February 10-11, 2025. The day’s discussions focused on how to effectively support the creation of self-sustaining AI innovation ecosystems across the world and support equitable and inclusive multi-stakeholder global AI governance.

This is the first milestone in a series of upcoming work to advance capacity building in AI for Global Majority countries and small businesses. The Global Action Forum featured contributors from Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, South Africa, Chile, Jamaica, Brazil, Barbados, Peru, India, and Singapore, along with participation from a range of civil society and industry leaders representing Brookings, Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Mozilla Foundation, Google, and Kyndryl, among many others. This convening was uniquely intergenerational thanks to the participation of Girl Security Student Fellow, Eniola Aloba. Additionally, officials from the office of the French President’s Special Envoy for AI, French government, U.K. government, United States Department of State, United States Agency for International Development, National Endowment for Democracy, and United Nations Development Programme, were in attendance.

Together the group:

Refined a comprehensive list of AI ecosystem enablers–inputs or underlying infrastructure necessary to sustain and support AI development, adoption, and governance–across a range of categories including: [1] Foundational Enablers (Connectivity, Compute, Energy, etc.), [2] Data & Models (Usable training datasets, representative datasets), [3] Talent & Capacity (Specialized skill sets, R&D capacity, etc.), [4] Market Support (Financial investments in startups/innovators, consumer awareness/acceptance, etc.), and [5] Governance & Accountability (AI policy, robust governance frameworks, etc.)
Identified the necessary elements to build a shared, mutually beneficial AI investment infrastructure that supports environmentally conscious AI innovation ecosystems, both around the world and in regional or country-specific contexts.
Pinpointed opportunities to promote AI innovation in an environmentally conscious manner that further United Nation Sustainable Development Goals.
Addressed the crucial role of a circular digital economy in fostering resource efficiency, reducing environmental impact, and promoting equitable access to AI's benefits.
Elevated challenges and opportunities associated with current AI ecosystem funding initiatives and in-kind / technical support to maximize the benefits realized by the countries engaged.
Emphasized the criticality of talent and identified key blockers and potential enablers for Global Majority countries to cultivate and retain a skilled workforce that empowers the existing labor market.
Underscored the fundamental importance of human rights and ethics in the governance, development, and deployment of AI technologies.

Presently, global AI governance conversations are on a trajectory to enshrine assumptions from the more well-resourced countries of the Global North. These efforts must adapt to better account for the range of harms AI incurs globally.

As we work to reverse course, participants emphasized that ecosystem players must recognize:

The importance of clear country goals and a strategy to inform industry and partner government support.
AI global governance is best developed in a matrixed manner where the many efforts are networked together to be mutually reinforcing while allowing for regional and bilateral engagement that can advance mutually beneficial initiatives.
There needs to be a focus on the harms unique to Global Majority countries. Because Global Majority countries are not a monolith, that will require a structure that creates equitable roles in the global governance work. Furter, AI ecosystem enablers can not be similarly prioritized across contexts.
There may need to be some changes to the current development support framework to enable self-sufficient AI innovation ecosystems.

"Convening with international stakeholders at the Global Action Forum showed me just how far we are from truly inclusive global AI governance but gave me hope that these issues will be understood by governments and institutions at the frontier of AI development. While much progress is needed to increase equitable participation in AI research, development, and governance, Global Majority countries are demonstrating that they will play a significant role in advancing efforts within these domains." Chinasa T. Okolo, Ph.D. Fellow, Center for Technology Innovation (CTI), The Brookings Institution
“The Global Action Forum was truly an eye-opening experience. It exposed me to the global inequitable impacts within technology and AI and how there needs to be a synergy to regulate the use and impacts of AI. As a current student I have only seen the impacts of AI in the realm of education. As hopeful and innovative AI is, if there is no control or regulation established it can lead to a scary future. This summit enabled me to understand the importance of joining hands and coming together to enforce order so that everybody can reap the benefits of Artificial Intelligence in a safe manner.” Eniola Aloba, Student National Security Fellow, Girl Security.
“It was a really terrific summit that covered a lot of ground, but for me personally, it punctuated the chasm between industry's tendency to move fast and break things, led by developed countries and global corporations, and those who lack the same capacity. But it also highlighted AI as a great equalizer. No nation, however resourced, is getting the talent piece right, because the technology is moving faster than our capacity to adapt our education and workforce training.” Lauren Buitta, Founder and CEO, Girl Security
"As a global society, we have learned so much about the importance of multi-stakeholder, human-centered, inclusive global governance as we have reckoned with the impacts of the weaponization and manipulation of technological advancements like the internet and social media. It behooves us to apply those lessons learned by enshrining our shared values into the governance and development of AI at this critical moment in its evolution. We cannot afford to miss the opportunity to create a more equitable innovation structure, mitigate risks, and set up a truly global governance framework that contemplates and accounts for the unique needs of Global Majority countries. I am in awe of the work that began at the Global Action Forum and I look forward to championing the outcomes and the continued work of the leaders in this network." - Camille Stewart Gloster, CEO and Principal, CAS Strategies, LLC

The planning team was in close communication with the office of the French President’s Special Envoy for AI, ensuring that the agenda would generate insights aligned with the aims of the upcoming French AI Action Summit. The French are aiming to secure hard policy commitments with France’s Special Envoy for AI Anne Bouverot focused on improving access for countries with less vibrant innovation ecosystems. The group will submit a written report to the French including actionable recommendations to inform their agenda and suggested deliverables. This report will be made available to the public.

A special thank you to our speakers including the French Special Envoy for Public Interest AI Martin Tisné, Dr. Chinasa Okolo (Brookings), Lousia Tomar, (CIPE), Trisha Ray (Atlantic Council), Aubra Anthony (Carnegie Endowment for Peace), and Iria Puyosa (Atlantic Council).

Thank you to our partners Diplomatic Courier, CIPE, Girl Security, Atlantic Council, and Omidyar Network.

A full list of participants can be found here.

Please reach out to events@cas-strategies.com with questions or for more information.