Towards Afrocentric AI

Aligning with the important theme of ``Diversity and Inclusion in Artificial Intelligence", we discuss the major linguistic, economic, and sociopolitical challenges facing development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies for Africa and Africans. Focusing on speech and language processing, we discuss how the particulars of African languages and the context within which these are taught and used (or lack thereof) can be harnessed for technology development. Our main objective is to motivate and advocate for policies geared towards an Afrocentric approach to AI. With this in mind, we recommend what technologies to build and how to build, evaluate, and deploy them based on the needs of African communities.