CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 AREAS OF FOCUS 5 METHODOLOGY 5 Literature Review 5 Stakeholder focus group meetings 5 AI: DEFINITIONS 6 SECTION A: AI READINESS IN THE REGION: 7 FUNDAMENTAL PILLARS FOR AI READINESS 7 The Technology Sector Pillar: 8 The Data and Infrastructure Pillar: 10 The Governance Pillar: 12 SOUTH AFRICA 13 Data Privacy and Protection Law 15 Algorithmic Transparency 15 ZIMBABWE 16 AI Oversight 16 Data Privacy & Protection Law 17 Human Rights 17 BOTSWANA 17 FEEDBACK FROM THE FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS ON AI READINESS. 19 LOOKING AHEAD: THE WAY FORWARD FOR SOUTHERN AFRICAN COUNTRIES 19 SECTION B: AI DEPLOYMENT IN THE REGION 20 AI USE CASES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA IN MEDIA 24 Interactive AI 25 Health & Social Wellbeing 26 Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability 26 Education 27 Labour 27 Use of facial recognition and mass surveillance 27 SECTION C: AI AND DISINFORMATION – A ZIMBABWEAN ELECTION PERSPECTIVE. 29 AI and Disinformation 29 AI to create deep fakes and voice cloning 30 AI for personalised advertising and microtargeting 33 AI to Counter Biased Content 33 AI Tools for Electoral Content Moderation 34 FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES OF AI IN AFRICA 35