Regional Briefing Paper: Africa and the Governance of Autonomous Weapons Systems

Executive Summary

This primer seeks to consolidate African positions that have emerged, at least since 2017, to show areas of convergence and to assist and inform states about the progress they have made, what they have already agreed on, and how they can develop their positions further. Autonomous weapons systems (AWS) can be defined as a range of weapons systems that detect and apply force to a target based on sensor inputs, rather than an immediate human command. 

With weapons systems and tools with increasing levels of autonomy being tested and used in Africa, and concern regarding access by non-state actors, autonomous weapons systems are an issue for security and civilian protection on the continent. The African continent has seen an increased concentration of the use of military drones and other precursor or potential component technologies to AWS, with the first UN-reported case of AWS use in Libya, and tests of new systems like the Triton autonomous maritime drone in the Gulf of Guinea. This makes the regulation of AWS an urgent need for the African continent.

African states, institutions and experts have made significant contributions to the international discussion on autonomous weapons systems so far, calling for a legally binding instrument on AWS, emphasising the need for meaningful human control and agency, ensuring responsibility and accountability, curbing proliferation to non-state actors, and the dangers of algorithmic bias.

This primer commends the efforts of African states on the governance of AWS and urges them to:

• Build commitment to make the move to negotiations on a legally binding instrument in 2026, recognising that sufficient common ground has now been developed to launch negotiations, 
• Ensure their individual and collective views are included in deliberations towards the development of a strong legal instrument, and
• Develop their positions and contributions further on issues including the centrality of meaningful human control; ensuring predictability; the need to address bias; resisting dehumanisation; prohibiting anti-personnel systems; and the need for a comprehensive legal framework to prevent the erosion of human control and ensure civilian protection.

Versions of this regional briefing are available in English, French, and Portuguese.