{"name":"Applied AI in DR Congo — the record","description":"Every announced initiative, deployment, published result and regulation of applied AI on the record for DR Congo, tagged by kind, industry, region and role, sourced and dated. A slice of the State of Applied AI record, maintained continuously by the Industrial Research Unit of the Straits Institute for Applied AI.","source":"https://www.straitsai.institute/state-of-applied-ai/dr-congo","partOf":"https://www.straitsai.institute/state-of-applied-ai/evidence.json","attribution":"Industrial Research Unit, Straits Institute for Applied AI","updated":"2026-10-29","facet":{"kind":"country","name":"DR Congo","slug":"dr-congo","iso2":"CD","region":"Sub-Saharan Africa"},"counts":{"entries":14,"deployments":7,"evidenceImpact":0,"evidenceAdoption":5,"regulation":2,"industries":7,"countries":1,"linked":14},"entries":[{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Healthcare & Life Sciences","region":"DR Congo","role":"Public health emergency officer","org":"WHO Regional Office for Africa","text":"World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa runs its Preparedness Data Exchange (PDX) in DR Congo, the first country with the AI epidemic early warning platform. PDX pools health and risk signals via artificial intelligence, giving national teams preparedness intelligence linked to a regional network for all 47 Member States of the WHO African Region as Ebola spreads. Dure Technologies and WHO fitted Voyage Santé border screening at N'djili International Airport and the Nord Bangui border post.","date":"2026-10-19","source":"https://www.afro.who.int/countries/democratic-republic-of-congo/news/who-deploys-pdx-preparedness-intelligence-platform-democratic-republic-congo"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Technology & Software","region":"DR Congo","org":"Target Sarl","text":"Target Sarl's second study across 26 provincial capitals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo finds AI use up 23 points and awareness up 7 between 2025 and 2026. ChatGPT holds 59% of AI apps in use. Adoption spans 63% in Grand Katanga to 24% in Kongo Central, Kinshasa 34%; 73% of respondents view AI favourably.","date":"2026-10-06","source":"https://acp.cd/business/rdc-la-notoriete-de-lia-a-progresse-de-sept-points-entre-2025-2026-une-etude/"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"DR Congo","org":"Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI)","text":"The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) is putting 762 headquarters and Kinshasa provincial staff through AI training for election officials in waves, linked to digitising CENI archives. Modules span electoral law, cycle basics, institutional history, artificial intelligence applied to electoral processes and train-the-trainer sessions, opened by president Denis Kadima.","date":"2026-09-29","source":"https://acp.cd/nation/rdc-lancement-de-la-modernisation-numerique-des-archives-electorales/"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"DR Congo","org":"Ministry of Higher Education, University, Scientific Research and Innovations (DR Congo)","text":"The Council of Ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo approved PURE, an AI English learning scheme for universities and research institutes, at the 99th session. Higher Education Minister Marie-Thérèse Sombo's plan seeks stronger English among Congolese students, teachers and researchers for jobs, mobility and international science. Phased rollout pledges access to every student; the artificial-intelligence language tuition has not begun.","date":"2026-09-28","source":"https://www.reporter.cd/rdc-le-gouvernement-adopte-un-programme-nucleaire-2026-2035-et-un-projet-dapprentissage-de-langlais-par-ia/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Healthcare & Life Sciences","region":"DR Congo","role":"Epidemiologist (outbreak surveillance)","org":"WHO Regional Office for Africa","text":"With Anthropic's Claude, the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Africa now compiles daily Ebola situation reports for the Democratic Republic of the Congo in under an hour instead of a full day, Anthropic says. Claude pulls numbers from district returns, sets them against the last edition and highlights shifts. CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, convened Anthropic, WHO Africa and the DRC's Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale on this outbreak reporting in September.","date":"2026-09-26","source":"https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20260926-rdc-l-intelligence-artificielle-utilis%C3%A9e-dans-la-riposte-%C3%A0-l-%C3%A9pid%C3%A9mie-d-ebola"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Healthcare & Life Sciences","region":"DR Congo","role":"Epidemiologists, public health data analysts","org":"Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale","text":"Anthropic's Claude now underpins AI outbreak reporting at DRC's Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale, cutting Ebola sitrep turnaround in the Bundibugyo outbreak to under an hour, down from a full day. A skill built by WHO AFRO pulls case counts from health zone PowerPoint slides, flagging emerging trends in this AI disease surveillance push. Claude Science tools also help INRB assemble viral genomes and chart family trees from sequencing data.","date":"2026-09","source":"https://www.anthropic.com/features/ebola-response"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"DR Congo","org":"Ministry of Digital Economy","text":"The Ministry of Digital Economy brought the Democratic Republic of Congo its first DR Congo AI policy on 4 August 2026: officials, donors and specialists convened at Kinshasa cleared twin texts charting course to 2030, the Politique sectorielle de l'economie numerique alongside the Strategie nationale de l'intelligence artificielle. Minister Augustin Kibassa Maliba unveiled them. The national AI roadmap leans on competence, research, mining data and homegrown builds, reaching agriculture, health, education, security, transport, natural resource management and public services. Ratification awaits the Council of Ministers.","date":"2026-08-04","source":"https://www.unesco.org/fr/articles/la-rdc-se-dote-dune-strategie-nationale-pour-une-intelligence-artificielle-ethique-et-inclusive"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Education & Training","region":"DR Congo","role":"Exam marker","org":"Ministry of National Education and New Citizenship","text":"Snote Manager, swapped in by the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ministry of National Education and New Citizenship for the retired Data Scan, brings AI-assisted exam marking to the 2026 Examen d'Etat. At 10 to 15 times its forerunner's speed in pulling in answer sheets, the package embeds automated script processing. Capture sites multiplied from one to six, so papers are read close to candidates then moved under encryption onto central servers rather than hauled overland to Kinshasa. Sheet capture opened 22 June; Inspector General Hubert Kimbonza counted Haut-Katanga 1 and further educational provinces cleared.","date":"2026-06-22","source":"https://edu-nc.gouv.cd/actualites/examen-d-etat-2026-les-premiers-resultats-attendus-des-ce-weekend-annonce-l-inspecteur-general"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Business Operations","region":"DR Congo","org":"Universite Technologique du Congo","text":"125 semi-structured interviews in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Goma reveal youthful Congolese running micro-businesses on AI in the informal economy: ChatGPT and other large language models, picture generators and chatbot apps shoulder translation, logo work, automatic customer replies, marketing copy, stock ledgers and crop planning. Delphin B. Kyubwa of the Universite Technologique du Congo credits swapped tips in WhatsApp groups, YouTube clips and tinkering, never a classroom; his coinage is compressed professionalization. Creaking infrastructure throttles informal-sector AI use worst: pricey bandwidth, erratic current.","date":"2026-06-03","source":"https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/artificial-intelligence/articles/10.3389/frai.2026.1868452/full"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Manufacturing, Energy & Resources","region":"DR Congo","role":"Exploration geologist","org":"KoBold Metals","text":"KoBold Metals, bankrolled by US billionaires Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, has begun what the firm bills as history's biggest AI mineral exploration drive: 13 permits spanning 3,000 sq km of the Democratic Republic of Congo's Manono belt, set to widen to 5,000 sq km by December. Over $50 million is committed through early 2027, funding aerial coverage of 30,000 sq km and beyond 30,000 soil assays. Machine-guided prospecting redirects crews weekly towards the strongest lithium ground, and the MetaLab container laboratory pulverises, dries and tests samples on site within days. Chief executive Kurt House says a year back the outfit owned no acreage and employed nobody there; it now ranks as America's biggest investor in the country.","date":"2026-04-13","source":"https://www.mining.com/kobold-launches-ai-driven-lithium-push-in-drc/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Finance & Insurance","region":"DR Congo","role":"Entrepreneur","org":"Fonds de Garantie de l'Entrepreneuriat au Congo","text":"The Fonds de Garantie de l'Entrepreneuriat au Congo opened Bokeli, an AI business-plan platform, at Kinshasa on 3 February 2026, aimed at micro, small and medium firms plus artisans lacking the security lenders usually want. Bokeli guides a founder through a bankable document with situational prompts and samples, inserts projections at a click, saves to PDF or Word, then pushes the file into the fund, where applicants watch its progress themselves until cash lands. Operations chief Ibrahim Ucircan said most submissions arrived in poor shape whatever province they came from. Director General Laurent Munzemba Kompa said the automated plan builder kills off gripes about sluggish handling.","date":"2026-02-03","source":"https://actualite.cd/2026/02/04/entrepreneuriat-en-rdc-bokeli-la-plateforme-digitale-intelligente-du-fogec-pour-la"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"DR Congo","org":"Ministère de l'Économie Numérique","text":"The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) began drafting its first National AI Strategy on 8 October 2025, backed by President Félix Tshisekedi's $1.5 billion Digital Nation 2030 vision. Augustin Kibassa Maliba, Minister of Digital Economy, opened the inter-institutional commission producing this artificial intelligence policy framework alongside a National Digital Plan for 2026-2030.","date":"2025-10-08","source":"https://numerico.cd/2025/10/10/la-rdc-lance-la-redaction-de-son-plan-national-du-numerique-2026-2030-et-de-sa-premiere-strategie-sur-lintelligence-artificielle/"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"DR Congo","org":"Conseil d'Etat de la République Démocratique du Congo","text":"High-level magistrates at the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Conseil d'Etat (State Council) gained generative AI legal practice skills over two days, 5-6 May 2025, advancing AI in the legal profession locally. First president Brigitte Nsensele led, taught by Ferdinand Vaweka, with IT kit given to attendees.","date":"2025-05","source":"https://acp.cd/affaire-judiciare-et-droits-humains/rdc-des-magistrats-du-conseil-detat-en-formation-sur-lintelligence-artificielle/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Healthcare & Life Sciences","region":"DR Congo","role":"Pulmonologist","org":"Cliniques Universitaires de Kinshasa","text":"Kinshasa's Cliniques Universitaires began an AI stethoscope diagnosis trial of the Pneumoscope, checking whether it detects pneumonia, bronchopneumonia, bronchiolitis and asthma, with sites in Beni. Researchers compare its readings against clinical exams and imaging for accuracy, a form of machine-assisted auscultation for respiratory disease.","date":"2025-03-05","source":"https://www.cliniquesuniversitairekinshasa.net/2025/03/05/lancement-officiel-ce-matin-de-letude-sur-le-pneumoscope-en-rdc-kinshasa-et-beni/"}]}