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The Need to Foster Africa’s AI

AI has become one of the most prominent fields of global attention. Today, it is applied not only in everyday life but also across diverse professional sectors, driving countries worldwide to invest heavily in its development. As AI emerges as a key driver of the future international order, competition among nations is intensifying. Yet the development of AI requires skilled human resources, vast datasets, and reliable infrastructure, areas where significant disparities have already emerged. Consequently, nations that hold global power are consolidating their dominance in AI as well. The United States and China, for example, are currently locked in fierce competition for AI leadership. But what does it mean to be excluded from this race? AI is, at its core, a product of learning. However, the learning process rarely reflects a truly balanced view of the world. Which information is accepted as truth, and which perspectives are emphasized, depends on the data and the designers who train the system. Even with objective data, outcomes differ depending on who builds and trains the AI. This is why many countries are actively developing AI models that reflect their own perspectives. The 2025 AI Index Report illustrates this imbalance. The vast majority of leading AI models have been developed in the United States and China, while Africa lags significantly behind in both pace and scale. Although Africa and Latin America have made progress in computer science (CS) education, many African countries still lack stable access to basic infrastructure such as electricity. As of 2023, only 34% of primary schools in Sub-Saharan Africa had electricity, showing the severity of this barrier. Without these foundations, computer literacy and AI education remain limited. The gap extends to research and development as well. From 2013 to 2023, Africa recorded strikingly low numbers of AI-related publications, patents, and legislative initiatives. Between 2003 and 2024, Africa produced virtually no major AI models. Even in the Korea Software Policy & Research Institute’s global report on large-scale AI models, African countries were absent, underscoring the widening development gap. This issue is not just technical. It is fundamentally about representation. Without AI models developed from African perspectives, global AI will continue to reflect primarily U.S. and Chinese viewpoints. This risks erasing Africa’s unique and diverse perspectives from the global AI ecosystem. Africa’s 54 countries represent rich cultural and social diversity, and if this is excluded, Africa’s influence in international discourse will inevitably diminish. Signs of exclusion are already evident. In global surveys on AI services conducted between 2022 and 2024, only South Africa was included, compared to nine Asian countries, twelve European countries, three North American countries, five South American countries, and two Oceanian countries. This illustrates how Africa is being sidelined as an opinion leader in shaping the future of AI. If this trend continues, Africa risks becoming further marginalized in the global AI landscape. For these reasons, the development of major AI models in Africa is not optional but essential. To achieve a more balanced global perspective, representation across continents must be ensured. Expanding participation from currently marginalized regions such as Africa and Latin America will strengthen solidarity and cooperation within the Global South. At the same time, AI-leading nations can help build a fairer and more sustainable global AI ecosystem through collaboration. AI models developed by Africa would be more than technological milestones. They would serve as a foundation for balance, fairness, and diversity in the international community. If support for Africa’s AI industry is delayed, the future global AI order will become increasingly shaped by the perspectives of only a few powerful nations. For genuine balanced development, we call for active support and global solidarity in fostering Africa’s AI industry and advancing the development of major AI models.

A Smaller Africa on Google Maps?

In the 15th to 17th centuries, people set sail across the seas during the Age of Exploration. However, in the 21st century, we navigate the world through the Internet. When you think of a “map,” which online platform comes to your mind first? For many, it will be Google Maps, the service with the highest global market share. Through Google Maps, we can travel the world within just a few seconds and explore the world in detail. Beyond everyday use, various research institutions, international organizations, and government agencies also rely on Google Maps to publish academic presentations and reports. However, have you ever thought about a little possibility that Google Maps provides the customer a distorted map? The world maps are most commonly based on the “Mercator projection,” created in 1569 by the Dutch cartographer Gerardus Mercator. To represent the spherical Earth in two dimensions, he projected it onto a cylinder, which preserved shapes and angles relatively accurately. At first glance, it may appear perfect, though in reality, the Mercator projection distorts the size of continents. Landmasses in the northern hemisphere, farther from the equator, appear much larger while those near the equator in the southern hemisphere appear much smaller. For instance, Greenland looks similar in size to Africa on the Mercator map, when in fact Africa is about 14 times larger. Some may wonder, “Why should anyone care about the world map?” But this is not just a geographic error. It has deep implications with national identity. Despite being the second largest continent and home to more than a billion people, Africa still struggles to shed images such as “marginal,” “Third World,” or “impoverished.” Its vast culture and resources are diminished in influence and recognition, just as they are visually minimized on the map. As of 2025, Google Maps has around 2 billion monthly active users (MAU) and dominates 89.7% of the global map app market. If Google Maps continues to use the distorted Mercator projection, it will only reinforce and perpetuate a worldview that minimizes the stature of certain regions and nations. Just as Google once showcased technological progress through the introduction of 3D maps, now is the time to adopt the “Equal Earth Projection”, a fairer and more accurate representation for a more equitable world and global society. As a multinational corporation, and as a platform operating on a truly global stage, Google bears a responsibility to provide accurate information and to prevent the reproduction of distortions. We urge Google to take the lead. Stop deceiving the 2 billion users of Google Maps. Let's correct the map. 15-17세기 대항해시대 당시 사람들이 배를 타고 세계를 항해했다면, 21세기 우리는 인터넷을 통해 세계를 항해합니다. ‘지도’하면 가장 먼저 생각나는 온라인 플랫폼이 어디인가요? 전 세계적으로 높은 비율의 시장 점유율을 가지고 있는 구글맵 서비스를 떠올리는 분이 많을 것입니다. 구글맵 서비스를 통해 우리는 한국에서 단 몇 초 만에 미국을 방문할 수 있고, 세계를 속속들이 항해할 수 있습니다. 일상적인 용도 외에도, 다양한 연구 기관, 국제기구, 정부 기관들이 구글맵을 이용하여 학술 발표, 보고서 등을 출간하고 있습니다. 이렇게 우리의 일상과 업무를 지배하고 있는 ‘구글맵’이 사용자들에게 왜곡된 지도를 보여주고 있다고 하면 쉽게 믿을 수 있나요? 현재 우리가 전 세계에서 가장 일반적으로 사용하는 세계 지도는 ‘1569년 네덜란드의 게르하르두스 메르카토르’가 제작한 도법에 기반합니다. 구의 형체인 지도를 2D에서 구현하기 위해 원통에 지구를 투영하여 지도를 그려낸 것으로, 지도 속 대륙의 모양이나 각도가 상대적으로 정확하므로 항해용 지도로 많이 사용되어 왔습니다. 언뜻 보면 완벽해 보이지만 사실 메르카토르 도법 지도는 광점과의 거리 때문에 적도에서 먼 북반구일수록 대륙의 크기가 크고, 적도와 가까운 남반구 대륙은 작게 그려집니다. 즉, 북아메리카와 그린란드 같은 극지방 근처 지역을 확장된 데 반면, 아프리카와 남아메리카는 실제보다 축소되어있다는 것입니다. 실제로 극지방에 위치한 그린란드의 면적은 아프리카의 14분의 1 수준에 불과하지만, 메르카토르 지도에서는 두 대륙이 동일한 크기로 그려져 있습니다. 지도의 오류와 국가 크기의 왜곡이 무엇이 중요하냐고 생각하는 사람도 많을 수 있습니다. 하지만, 이것은 지도 위의 지리학적 오류를 넘어 국가성에도 영향을 미치는 중대한 사항입니다. 실제 대륙의 크기로 따지면 전 세계에서 두 번째로 큰 대륙인 아프리카가 10억 명이 넘는 인구를 가지고 있음에도 불구하고 국제사회에서는 ‘주변국’, ‘제3세계’, ‘빈곤국’과 같은 이미지를 떨쳐내지 못하고 있습니다. 방대한 문화와 자원을 가지고 있는 아프리카의 영향력과 국가성이 지도에서와 같이 축소되어 있는 것입니다. 2025년 기준 전 세계 약 20억 명의 월간 활성 사용자(MAU)를 보유하고 있고, 지도 앱 시장의 89.7%를 점유하고 있는 구글맵에서 메르카토르 도법의 왜곡된 지도를 계속해서 사용한다면, 이는 특정 지역과 국가의 위상을 축소하는 인식이 고착화하고 재생산하는 계기가 될 수 있습니다. 구글맵에서 3D 지도를 도입하며 기술의 발전을 보여준 것처럼, 이제는 평등한 국제사회와 평등한 지도를 위해 ‘이퀄 어스 도법’의 왜곡되지 않은 지도를 도입해야 할 때입니다. 다국적 기업으로서, 전 세계를 배경으로 활약하는 ‘구글’로서, 세계에 보다 올바른 정보를 전달하고 왜곡된 정보의 재생산을 방지하는데 가장 먼저 나서주기를 촉구합니다. 구글맵을 이용하는 20억명을 더이상 속이지 말고, 거짓말을 지워주세요.

Why is Africa still called the “Dark Continent” in today’s dictionaries?

Africa is home to the greatest diversity of languages, ethnicities, and cultures in the world. And yet, for many, Africa still conjures up only words like famine and disease. Where do these one-sided images come from? As part of its “Recognize Africa Accurately” project, the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK) recently reviewed how major global dictionaries and encyclopedias describe Africa. The investigation covered 20 widely used sources, including Britannica, Collins, Oxford, Merriam-Webster, and Wikipedia. The results were alarming. Many of these sources described Africa only in terms of poverty, hunger, corruption, and military dictatorship. For example, Britannica states that “most African governments are ruled by the military or a single-party system,” while Wikipedia defines Africa as “the continent most vulnerable to climate change”—generalizing an entire region as a singular, helpless victim. Of course, Africa does face real social challenges. But to define an entire continent—made up of 54 unique countries with diverse political systems, cultures, and levels of development—through a single, negative lens is not only factually misleading, but dangerously reinforces long-standing prejudices. What’s worse is the language itself. Terms like “Dark Continent,” “Black Africa,” “Pygmy,” “Bushman,” and “Hottentot” are still found in modern dictionaries without any warning or contextual explanation. Many of these terms were used during the colonial era to depict Africans as inferior or uncivilized, and are now widely recognized as offensive or outdated. Yet today, users are still being exposed to them as if they were neutral or acceptable. This is deeply problematic, because dictionaries and encyclopedias serve as standards of knowledge and shape how young people view the world. Across the globe, students are still being taught to see Africa as a continent of crisis. We cannot ignore the fact that a single word, a single sentence, can plant the seeds of bias and discrimination. VANK has previously succeeded in correcting errors in major dictionaries, such as the mislabeling of “East Sea” as “Sea of Japan” or misrepresentations of Korea’s history and culture. This campaign for Africa is a continuation of that effort. We are preparing formal requests to publishers demanding that they revise outdated descriptions and add warning labels to discriminatory terms. But this movement is not just about correcting dictionary entries. It’s about taking action, as global citizens, to protect the values of diversity and coexistence. Africa is not a subject of pity or charity—it is a cultural force and a partner in global cooperation. This small petition could become the first step in changing how our world is understood. We need your support. We are not just pointing out a problem—we are calling for a fairer, more accurate standard of global knowledge. It’s time for dictionaries to reflect the true diversity and voices of our world. Your attention can be the beginning of a new perspective.

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