About

Who we are


Mizani AI Policy — MAP (formally, the Mizani Centre for AI Governance and Policy in Africa) is an emerging, African-led research initiative based in Abuja, Nigeria.

We bring together technical, legal and policy expertise to help Africa govern artificial intelligence fairly, transparently and in the public interest.

Our name

Why “Mizani”?


Mizani is Swahili for “balance” or “scales”: the balance between innovation and protection, global standards and local context, state oversight and public trust.

MAP takes its name from the initials of Mizani AI Policy, and also reflects our work of mapping AI policy across the continent.

Vision

An Africa where artificial intelligence is governed fairly, transparently and in service of its people, with African institutions and voices shaping the rules at home and globally.

Mission

To advance rights-respecting, evidence-based AI governance in Africa by mapping policies and laws, producing rigorous research, and supporting African policymakers, researchers and young professionals.

Our values

What guides our work

Balance

We weigh innovation against protection in every output.

Rights and justice

Human rights, fairness and accountability anchor our work.

Rigour and independence

Transparent methods and no commissioned conclusions.

African leadership

We centre African knowledge, languages and institutions.

Openness

Our core tools and findings are free to use.

Inclusion

We actively involve women, youth and under-served regions.

Founder

The person behind MAP

Abubakar Musa Saulawa, founder

Abubakar Musa Saulawa

Abubakar Musa Saulawa is an AI governance and policy researcher, data scientist and computer scientist with a law degree (LLB), based in Abuja, Nigeria. His background spans natural language processing, machine learning and AI and law. He is the founder of the Open Mentorship Initiative and a former President of the Mathematics and Computer Science Association.

Meet the team

Our status

Mizani AI Policy — MAP is an emerging initiative and registration is in progress. We will publish our registration details here once complete.

Read our Independence and Funding statement and our Safeguarding commitment.

Stay informed

Subscribe to the MAP Briefing, our short newsletter on AI policy developments across Africa.