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More than ever before, AI is now an area of national strategic importance. This has become quite evident with the proliferation of national AI strategies since the first was launched in Canada in 2017. There is now an ever-growing body of national AI strategies especially in countries situated in the Global South. AI is seen as a key driver of economic development and the strategies describe how countries plan to exploit AI technologies to achieve national development goals. However, AI technologies also generate problematic and unintended consequences, and the national strategies often describe governance mechanisms for mitigating such issues. As the national development goals of many countries also align with the UN SDGs, this paper explores the relationship between responsible governance of AI, the attainment of the UN SDGs and the implications for African countries. The paper shows that there is a …