Artificial Intelligence and Fragile Democracy in West Africa: Between Digital Repression and Citizen Mobilization

This article explores the ambivalence of artificial intelligence (AI) in the fragile democracies of West Africa, based on a qualitative study involving 385 participants in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. It highlights a dual use of AI: as a tool of digital repression (surveillance, censorship, disinformation) and as a lever for citizen mobilization (fact-checking, mapping, diaspora activism). This tension confirms that AI can both reinforce authoritarianism and support democratic action. The article introduces two concepts: contradicted algorithmic sovereignty, referring to African states’ structural dependence on foreign technologies; and algorithmic vulnerability, characterizing their increased exposure to digital manipulation. The study calls for an African regulatory framework on AI and for comparative, longitudinal research into its political uses in fragile contexts.