15 October 2026: The Commonwealth of Learning – Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (COL-CEMCA) convened students from Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Rwanda and Zambia for the regional launch of their country cohorts under the Commonwealth Student Community for AI Governance. The virtual convening brought together student perspectives on how AI should be developed, accessed and governed in their national contexts.

Addressing the students, Dr. B. Shadrach, Director, COL-CEMCA, connected AI governance with the region’s development priorities, including smart agriculture in Rwanda, mining optimisation in Botswana and Zambia, disaster resilience in Mozambique, and telehealth in Lesotho. He also raised concerns about algorithmic bias, job displacement, unequal digital access and data sovereignty, emphasising the need for AI systems that reflect local realities and protect equity and human dignity.

The student discussions identified common challenges across the five countries, including high internet costs, limited connectivity, inadequate data protection, misinformation, insufficient local-language support and gaps in AI governance policies. Students also expressed concern that over-reliance on AI in academic work could weaken critical thinking, creativity and independent learning.

Their recommendations called for more affordable internet access, stronger public digital infrastructure, clearer national and institutional guidelines for responsible AI, and AI literacy across all academic disciplines. Students also advocated for AI tools trained on local datasets and regional languages, alongside opportunities for young people to participate directly in policymaking.

The discussions further identified practical ways for the student community to contribute, including peer-learning initiatives, AI literacy campaigns, primary research and campus-level AI ethics committees. These priorities will inform the wider Commonwealth student dialogue, including contributions towards the student communiqué for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November 2026.