The cart before the horse or the horse before the cart – towards AI Policy for Business Practices in Africa

This study seeks to explore the level, scope, and nature of artificial intelligence (AI) policy development for business practices in Africa. Utilizing the PRISMA methodology, fifty-two relevant articles were sourced from the Scopus database and critically analysed. The findings reveal that AI development and diffusion for business operations in Africa are still in their early stages. Moreover, there is a notable paucity of research focused on AI policy for business practices, with only fifty-two articles published on the topic between 2008 and 2024. The existing studies are predominantly in the fields of health, agriculture, higher education, and e-government, with a geographical focus on Southern and Eastern Africa specifically South Africa, Kenya, and Rwanda, with limited research addressing West Africa, particularly Nigeria. Notably, only five out of the fifty-two studies directly addressed AI policy for regulating business practices in Africa. The analysis has so far identified five thematic clusters related to AI policy in business namely governance frameworks, ethical considerations, infrastructure readiness, capacity building, and sector-specific applications. This paper is an ongoing study that underscores the urgent need for African countries to develop robust AI policy frameworks to ensure the fair, ethical, and equitable use of AI in business practices and provides recommendations for policy development and future research.