LAGOS/Nigeria: Nigeria has emerged as Africa’s highest-ranked country in responsible artificial intelligence (AI) governance, according to the second edition of the Global Index on Responsible AI (GIRAI), although a new report warns that governments worldwide are struggling to keep pace with the rapid adoption of AI technologies.
The report, released by the Global Center on AI Governance, assessed 135 countries across five key areas, including AI use in public service delivery, ethics and sustainability, inclusion and diversity, labour and skills, and trust and safety.
Globally, Norway topped the rankings, followed by Italy, Ireland, France and the Netherlands, while Nigeria ranked first in Africa with a score of 45.93, ahead of Egypt, Kenya, Ghana and Benin.
Despite Nigeria’s continental leadership, the report noted that Africa recorded the world’s lowest regional average score of 22 out of 100, highlighting a significant gap between policy commitments and their implementation.
According to the findings, many governments are adopting AI strategies, laws and policy frameworks, but lack the institutions, oversight mechanisms and enforcement tools needed to protect citizens as AI becomes increasingly integrated into public services, healthcare, education, policing, finance and other sectors.
The report warned that AI investment is accelerating faster than governments can regulate it in the public interest, leaving many countries reliant on voluntary guidelines rather than legally enforceable safeguards.
It also found evidence of government misuse of AI in 35 countries, while only 49 countries have policies addressing AI-driven misinformation and violence.
The study further revealed that governments are investing heavily in AI literacy and workforce development but paying far less attention to labour rights, with only 39 countries having frameworks to protect workers affected by AI-driven changes in the workplace.
Researchers also identified transparency as a major challenge, noting that although many countries require some level of AI transparency, only 18 per cent mandate public disclosure of government AI systems.
Environmental concerns were also highlighted, with just 27 per cent of countries having policies addressing AI’s environmental impact, including its energy and water consumption.
In Africa, the report found that only six of the 39 countries surveyed scored above the global average. While the continent is expanding its responsible AI policy landscape, most of its frameworks remain non-binding, with only 21 per cent being legally enforceable.
The report noted that labour and skills recorded Africa’s strongest implementation performance, while ethics and sustainability had the weakest implementation despite broad policy coverage.
The Global Center on AI Governance said the findings underscore the need for stronger laws, independent oversight, transparency, public accountability and effective implementation to ensure AI development protects human rights and benefits society.
The research was conducted with contributions from 135 country experts and analysed more than 68,000 data points collected between November 2023 and September 2025. The Index was developed using global AI governance standards, including the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and the OECD AI Principles.
