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Navigating EU AI Act Compliance: A Practical Guide for African AI Startups Building for Global Markets
10 min read · 1,943 wordsBy Orandi Felix
The extraterritorial reach is wider than GDPR. Even if you don’t process EU citizens’ data, if your AI influences decisions about them (e.g., loan approvals via satellite imagery), you’re likely covered.
The biggest mistake I’ve seen: underestimating data governance. Startups spend 2–3 weeks on documentation and realize they can’t prove dataset origins. **Treat data provenance like a DevOps pipeline.**
The Act doesn’t specify exact drift thresholds. My rule of thumb: **alert if accuracy drops >5% or bias metrics worsen by >10%**. Document your thresholds explicitly.
Notified bodies are overwhelmed. **Get on their waitlist now**—even if you’re 12 months from launch. Some Nairobi startups waited 9 months.