Eight Capstones, One Country: AI Policy Projects for the Republic of Ubuntia

Eight Capstones, One Country collects the eight capstone projects produced by Cohort 1 of the AI Literacy Fellowship for African Policymakers, convened by the OpenSchool Initiative. Each project is a national AI policy blueprint for the Republic of Ubuntia, a composite country invented for the fellowship so that fellows from across the continent could reason about a shared jurisdiction rather than negotiate the politics of any real one.

The fellowship graduated fifty-five fellows. 41 of them are credited here as authors, on the basis of substantial contribution to a submitted capstone. Each working group was supported by a mentor who reviewed its problem definition, evidence and policy logic.

The volume runs to 166 pages and covers eight thematic areas:

• 01 · Cross-Cutting Policy and Digital Sovereignty — 7 contributors
• 02 · Education and Skills for the Future — 9 contributors
• 03 · Labour, Employment and Future of Work — 5 contributors
• 04 · Finance, Trade and Inclusion — 3 contributors
• 05 · Agriculture and Food Systems — 6 contributors
• 06 · Climate Resilience and Urban Systems — 2 contributors
• 07 · Health and Wellbeing — 5 contributors
• 08 · Justice, Rights and Governance — 4 contributors

The chapters have been edited into a common structure and house style. Editorial interventions — restructuring, figure redrawing, reference recovery and verification — are recorded in each chapter rather than made silently. The editorial method is set out in full in the front matter.

Published by the OpenSchool Initiative, Abuja, Nigeria. First edition, 2026. Licensed CC BY 4.0.