Deliberative Polling in Sub-Saharan Africa: Results and Reflections from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa

Many have questioned the viability of having deliberative discussions in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The concerns have ranged from lack of access whether to information or technology to high levels of poverty and inequalities that could prevent participation. Taking these concerns into considerations, while maintaining the Deliberative Polling process, the Deliberative Democracy Lab (DDL) has conducted Deliberative Polls in various countries in SSA over the last several years, and in December 2022, the DDL assisted with the implementation of four national Deliberative Polls in SSA, using the AI-assisted Stanford Online Deliberation Platform. Several hundred participants in total from four countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa) participated in these online deliberations on the topics of policies towards bullying and harassment in the Metaverse. These national Deliberative Polls were the first-of-its-kind using the AI-assisted deliberation platform, which does not have human moderators to facilitate conversations. This paper first presents the mechanism of the AI-assisted Stanford Online Deliberation Platform and how it was used in the four SSA countries. Following, this paper shares the substance of the discussion and the topics for which the participants deliberated on. Then, this paper presents results and findings from these four national deliberations and illustrates the similarities and differences between these countries. Furthermore, the paper discussions the broader implications of these Deliberative Polls and next steps in further research.