WorldStage– As Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping global governance and development, West African lawmakers are calling for its adoption in the sub-region to be carefully managed to prevent job losses, safeguard ethics, and protect the region from external dominance.
This cautionary stance dominated discussions at the 2025 Second Parliamentary Seminar of the ECOWAS Parliament, which opened Monday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with the theme: “Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Parliamentary Efficiency, Ethical Governance and Development in the ECOWAS Region.”
The two-day seminar, presided over by Speaker Memounatou Ibrahima, brought together MPs and AI experts who examined opportunities and risks of deploying the technology across governance, agriculture, security, and healthcare. The session precedes the Parliament’s Second Extraordinary Meeting of the 6th Legislature in the same city.
While acknowledging AI’s transformative potential, lawmakers from across the sub-region emphasized the urgent need for a regional framework to regulate its use.
Second Deputy Speaker, Hadjaratou Traore of Côte d’Ivoire, urged ECOWAS to “domesticate and mainstream” AI into legislative processes while paying close attention to ethics, warning that Africa must not remain at the mercy of Western and Asian innovators.
The Gambia’s Fourth Deputy Speaker, Billay Tunkara, described AI as irreversible but stressed the need for “rigorous sensitization and enlightenment” to minimize risks of job displacement in a region already struggling with unemployment.
From Nigeria, MP Awaji Inombek Abiante called for a legal instrument to guide data collection and protection, arguing that transparency in AI deployment must begin with transparent leadership. “AI can help track government activities in real time and fight corruption, but without honest leaders, systems will fail,” he cautioned.
Ghanaian legislator Laadi Ayi Ayamba voiced concerns about the social costs, urging restraint to protect children and youth. “It is a good idea, but we must be careful not to embrace it blindly,” she warned.
Benin’s Nassirou Bako Arifari took a more forward-looking stance, describing AI as a “historical opportunity” for ECOWAS to pioneer a model law that could guide member states and eventually establish a regional “West African AI Space.”
Experts including Professor Uche Mbanaso, Dr. Christian Odo, Theophilus Ukuyoma, and Kamaldeen Samaila enriched the debate with sectoral insights, covering AI applications in security, oversight, healthcare, and agriculture.
As discussions continue, MPs agreed that while AI offers immense possibilities, West Africa must chart its own path balancing innovation with protection of jobs, ethics, and sovereignty.
