An African-led research program dedicated to building talent, generating impactful research, and shaping policy to advance AI safety, based in Nairobi, Kenya.
An African-led research program dedicated to building talent, generating impactful research, and shaping policy to advance AI safety, based in Nairobi, Kenya.
People
Updated 05/18/26Coordinator
Junior Research Scholar
Research Editor
Head of AI Safety Evaluations
Research Scholar
Research Associate and Head of Training Programmes
Research Scholar
Research Associate and Head of Policy
Funding Details
Updated 05/18/26- Annual Budget
- -
- Current Runway
- -
- Funding Goal
- -
- Funding Raised to Date
- -
Org Details
Updated 05/18/26The ILINA Program is an African-led research program founded in 2022 and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. Its mission is to build talent, generate impactful research, and shape policy to advance AI safety, with a particular focus on ensuring African perspectives are included in global conversations about AI safety and governance. The program operates two primary tracks. The ILINA Seminar is a 12-week educational program that introduces exceptional undergraduate and recently graduated students from across Africa to how AI works, the catastrophic risks it could pose, and AI governance ideas receiving attention today. It is offered both in-person in Nairobi and virtually across Africa. The Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) is a research-focused track for recent graduates, requiring a minimum 20-hour weekly commitment over several months. JRFs receive personalized mentorship and a scholarship (currently $5,000 USD) as they develop high-impact research projects in either a governance or technical track. ILINA's research focuses on the governance of highly capable AI to prevent catastrophic risks, technical AI alignment, biosecurity, and the distinctive role that developing countries and Global South perspectives can play in shaping international AI safety governance. The program's coordinator, Cecil Abungu, is a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge studying AI and labour law, a Research Affiliate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) and the Institute for Law and AI, and holds degrees from Strathmore University and Harvard Law School. ILINA's alumni have gone on to participate in prominent programs including the GovAI research fellowship and the AI Futures Fellowship. The program's researchers have published through the Brookings Institution, and team members collaborate with organizations such as the Centre for AI Risk Management and Alignment (CARMA) on whistleblower protections for AI safety. Cecil Abungu was named Co-Chair of the AI and Emerging Technologies Track at RightsCon 2026. The program is fiscally sponsored by the Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative (BERI) and received a $369,000 grant from Jaan Tallinn through the Survival and Flourishing Fund's 2025 S-Process round.
Theory of Change
Updated 05/18/26ILINA believes that AI safety requires global perspectives, particularly from the Global South, which has historically played a crucial role in designing and using multilateral rules and institutions in areas like international environmental law and intellectual property law. By identifying and training talented Africans to work on AI safety research and governance, ILINA aims to build a pipeline of future AI safety leaders who can bring underrepresented perspectives to bear on the governance of highly capable AI systems. The program's approach combines research production, talent development, and direct policy engagement to ensure that frontier AI is governed in ways that address catastrophic risks, with particular attention to how developing countries can distinctively shape outcomes in global AI governance.
Grants Received
Updated 05/18/26Projects
Updated 05/18/26
A remote junior research fellowship for recent graduates that combines ILINA’s spring seminar with a mentored research phase on AI and global catastrophic risks, offering governance and technical tracks and a 7,000 USD scholarship.
A 12-week hybrid seminar where participants across Africa study AI and global catastrophic risks through weekly readings and sessions offered virtually and in person from Nairobi.
Discussion
Key risk: A small Nairobi-based team may have limited counterfactual leverage on frontier AI policy and research quality, with alumni plausibly reaching similar opportunities without ILINA and current low funding needs making additional dollars unlikely to materially change x-risk outcomes.
Case for funding: ILINA is uniquely positioned to build an African pipeline of AI safety researchers and governance specialists and bring underrepresented Global South perspectives into multilateral AI norms, with early signs of placement and policy outputs that could strengthen legitimacy and robustness of catastrophic risk governance.