Speaking at the Forward Africa Leaders Symposium held on the sidelines of the UNGA80 under the theme: “Advancing Africa's Digital Transformation: Inspiring Action. Accelerating Growth. Amplifying Impact,” the President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), H.E. Chief Fortune Charumbira, underscored the criticality of integrating the parliamentary dimension into the governance architecture of Africa’s digital transformation journey.
For the digital transformation to be inclusive and for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be governed, Parliamentarians must be enabled to fully play their oversight role. “In line with its mandate, the Pan-African Parliament is tasked with ensuring the integration of the continent and harmonizing Africa’s legislative agenda. Parliamentarians are therefore well positioned to guide Africa’s digital revolution to ensure it is transparent, inclusive, and beneficial to the continent. The tool through which we can implement this continental coordination is a model law that will align legislation in all countries,” said Chief Charumbira.
The President of the Pan-African Parliament called on partners to ensure that Parliamentarians are trained and equipped to make informed legislative actions. As such, he announced that the Pan-African Parliament, in collaboration with African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), would hold a training workshop on 27-28 September 2025 at its seat for its members, aiming to both build MPs’ individual capacity through practical training modules and to collectively define, endorse, and launch a Common Parliamentary Toolkit on AI Governance.
During the Symposium, the President participated in a panel discussion on “Making Governance work for Tech Innovation in deepening Africa’sParticipation in Global Value Chains.” This theme focused on governance reforms and policy frameworks that enable African businesses to advance up the technology value chain in production, services, and exports.
Convened by the African Peer Review Mechanism, the 2025 Forward Africa Leaders Symposium served as a premier platform to spotlight and advance Africa’s Digital Transformation Agenda, particularly the attainment of an integrated Digital Economy as a catalyst for inclusive and sustainable growth through high-level dialogues to facilitate and drive investments, advance strategic partnerships and facilitate actionable collaborations between state and non-state actors.
H.E. Chief Fortune Charumbira is leading a Pan-African Parliament delegation to the 80th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 80) with the aim to elevate African Voices on the Global Stage through Parliamentary Diplomacy.”
