Artificial intelligence and cyber capabilities are reshaping the global economy. Across the world, nations struggle to keep policies and legal frameworks current, but the gap is widest in countries lacking domestic AI infrastructure or deep technical expertise. This is particularly critical across Africa, where rapid digital growth collides with nascent regulatory capacities. The United States needs to use its soft power and its diplomatic convening capabilities to become, and to stay, the go-to commercial and security partner for Africa in these domains.
The stakes could not be higher. The region holds roughly 30 percent of the world’s critical mineral reserves. These are the foundational materials for microprocessors, magnets, batteries, and alloys; everything necessary for aircraft, smartphones, and cloud architecture. African minerals are the base of the supply chain for every AI model run and every byte stored. While the United States is investing heavily in the physical infrastructure and logistics to secure these resources, tangible assets alone cannot guarantee long-term security or alignment.
To protect US economic and national security interests, strategic soft power is the necessary force multiplier. Competitors of the United States have spent years building relationships to shape regional regulatory landscapes. The United States must counter this by investing in and partnering with the officials in different countries who will write the AI, cyber, and technology governance rules for this infrastructure over the next generation.
The US Department of State previously possessed a highly effective tool for this exact purpose. In 2023, the department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy launched the Global Emerging Leaders in International Cyberspace Security (GEL-ICS) fellowship. Its goal was clear: Equip a global network of future senior officials from around the world with the knowledge and connections to advance a shared vision for a secure, stable cyberspace. The US leaders behind the fellowship recognized that cyberspace security and digital policy are essential elements of modern statecraft, and they also saw that building shared understanding with foreign decision-makers could yield long-term diplomatic dividends.
Under this program, the State Department selected rising officials from key partner nations—including across Africa—for a year-long fellowship. The program featured a two-week visit to the United States, monthly virtual workshops, and a capstone graduation embedded at an international cyber and tech forum such as the Internet Governance Forum. Fellows engaged directly with tech leaders, government officials, and civil society experts to champion responsible state behavior in cyberspace. Beyond formal training, the cohorts formed lasting professional and personal ties with American peers.
This modest investment quickly yielded tangible policy returns. In 2024, an African alumna from the fellowship revived a senior-level policy dialogue on cyber and digital policy issues with the United States, ending years of diplomatic stalemate. In 2025, with fellowship alumni occupying key policymaking posts in their countries, every participating nation in the fellowship supported the United Nations decision to establish a permanent global mechanism on cybersecurity. A majority of these nations were actively involved in the outcome, creating a collective action to replace the decades of ad hoc working groups that US adversaries had consistently used to weaken US leadership on cybersecurity.
The fellowship demonstrated that access to US expertise and peer networks builds lasting institutional alignment. US officials and industry leaders gained direct insight into foreign ministry perspectives, turning previously unaligned states into key diplomatic partners.
Despite its low cost and high impact, the program was discontinued in early 2025 during a general reassessment of foreign assistance. The administration reorganized the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, with its component offices distributed to other bureaus. The office responsible for the fellowship was reassigned to the new Bureau of Emerging Threats.
Without any change in authorities, either bureau could serve as an ideal home for a resuscitated program. The State Department should reactivate and expand the fellowship with an updated mandate. Rather than focusing solely on cyber norms, it should also address governance across frontier technologies, including AI, satellite connectivity, quantum computing, biotechnology, and autonomous systems, among others.
Membership should also include representatives from multilateral institutions, business, academia and civil society, as these debates don’t happen in ministries only. Furthermore, given Africa’s critical mineral reserves, its status as the UN’s largest voting bloc, and its future as a home to a quarter of the global workforce by 2050, African participation should be significantly expanded.
Building enduring technology partnerships requires showing up. By restoring and expanding this fellowship within the Bureau of Emerging Threats, the United States can ensure that African digital governance frameworks are developed alongside partners who share a commitment to open, secure, and resilient technology ecosystems. This fellowship must also be part of a broader, intentional soft power strategy that employs the distinct comparative advantages of the United States. By coincidence, at the time of this writing, Tsinghua University in Beijing invited one of the authors to attend its fellowship on these subjects, along with an African cohort. The United States’ chief adversary has a soft power strategy. Why doesn’t Washington?
Troy Fitrell is the CEO of SAGINT International, a financial technology company providing traceability to the critical minerals supply chain. A retired foreign service officer, his most recent positions include acting assistant secretary for African affairs and US ambassador to the Republic of Guinea. In such roles, he was the architect of US economic policy in the region, including the US commercial strategy for Africa.
Kathryn Fitrell is a retired US foreign service officer. During her tenure at the US Department of State, she specialized in cyber diplomacy as a senior policy advisor and was part of the team that stood up the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. She developed and led the flagship GEL-ICS fellowship, building global diplomatic networks to advance international cyber norms and strategic partnerships.
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Image: The US flag seen displayed on a smartphone with an artificial intelligence chip and symbol in the background. Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire and Reuters.