Industrial Research Unit · Straits Institute for Applied AI
Applied AI in Sub-Saharan Africa
120 entries on the record across Sub-Saharan Africa — 91 deployments, 14 regulations, 9 pieces of evidence of adoption, 6 pieces of evidence of impact. Each one is traced to a named source and dated. Maintained continuously by the Industrial Research Unit; the record was last updated 14 Sep 2026.
Entries
120
Industries
12
Most recent
13 Sep 2026
Kind
Industry
Country
Role
120 entries
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesCabo Verde13 Sep 2026
CVAMS lets Cabo Verdean nurses diagnose cataracts and glaucoma with AI
Sociedade Médica Cabo-verdiana Americana (CVAMS) — Sociedade Médica Cabo-verdiana Americana, CVAMS, has run the Continuidade project in Cabo Verde for six years, and AI diagnosis in Ophthalmology now enables nurses, not doctors, to pin down cataracts, glaucoma and retinopathy. Cloud-linked machines generate automatic diagnoses, aimed at Oncology and Cardiology, the specialities where local capacity is thinnest, under surgeon Júlio Tavares. The current mission, 10 to 24 September, fields over 70 doctors, surgeons, nurses, psychologists and further health workers drawn from leading United States institutions. CVAMS casts its Artificial Intelligence diagnostic equipment as a weapon against the archipelago's foremost killers; no independent evaluation of accuracy has been published.
Evidence of adoptionEducation & TrainingEquatorial Guinea11 Sep 2026
BANGE puts its whole workforce through AI and fintech training
Banco Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial — Banco Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial has sent the entire payroll, every department included, through AI training for bank staff, delivered by BANGE Business School with Spanish education group CEF.-UDIMA. Jorge Lucio Sánchez Galán, who holds a doctorate in the subject, leads sessions covering banking applications, automated workflows, data work, fintech, cybersecurity, risk and responsible handling of digital tools. The lender expects this AI upskilling to surface efficiencies, lift output and quicken customer service across Equatorial Guinea.
Evidence of impactGovernment & Public SectorMali10 Sep 2026
Timbuktu Institute study finds generative AI reshaping Mali's information war
Timbuktu Institute — Every armed faction in Mali's conflict now uses generative AI propaganda, a Timbuktu Institute study finds. The Dakar-based think tank's report, "Algorithms at War: How Generative AI is Reshaping the Malian Conflict," cites JNIM jihadists circulating AI-generated posters, FLA separatists promoted via a synthetic TikTok persona, the invented fighter "Azzghim," and Russia's Africa Corps running AI disinformation operations at scale. Researchers say the tools cut technical barriers and quicken output for every side involved.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesBenin7 Sep 2026
Benin buys 20 AI malaria analysers for its main public hospitals
Benin National Malaria Control Programme — Benin gave South Korean diagnostics supplier Noul a public tender for 20 AI malaria diagnosis analysers for severe-malaria hospitals, and the National Malaria Control Programme has endorsed the miLab MAL platform as a point-of-care device. The system handles each step from blood-smear preparation to digital imaging and AI analysis, making AI-assisted testing quicker and more consistent, Noul says. The purchase followed a 2025 clinical evaluation of 211 children with suspected severe malaria at northern and southern university hospitals.
UN Development Programme — A UN Development Programme pilot, backed by the Japanese government, blends satellite observation, field data and AI crop risk monitoring in Togo's Savanes region to catch crop threats before damage shows. Solafune, a Japanese satellite and geospatial data specialist, runs it over a 1,000 km2 pilot zone in the Cinkasse and Tone prefectures. In Lome, a Solafune team showed Togolese stakeholders early results and a test build of the satellite early-warning platform.
Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics automates cargo handling with an AI platform
Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics — Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics unveiled Digital ESL, an AI logistics platform for web and mobile, in Addis Ababa. Importers, exporters and partners place orders, schedule container loading and follow cargo any time, anywhere; the state-owned operator says AI algorithms remove human handoffs. The self-service system replaces paper clearance at Ethiopia's dry ports and sea supply routes.
DeploymentManufacturing, Energy & ResourcesBotswana4 Sep 2026
Botswana Minerals defines nine copper corridors from an AI data review
Botswana Minerals — Botswana Minerals has outlined nine main exploration corridors across licences in the south, after an AI mineral exploration analysis merged decades of data over about 95,000 square kilometres. Sampling begins on the AI-picked prospects of highest priority, focusing corridors towards individual drill sites. The eight prospecting licences, some 7,000 square kilometres in the country's north-west, date from January 2026.
Rwanda's farm advice line gets a Kinyarwanda AI assistant
Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources — Rwanda's Ministry of Agriculture is trialling Tunga, an AI farm advisory voice assistant on the ministry's call centre taking farmers' questions in Kinyarwanda. It draws on a ministry, Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board and partner knowledge base, handing unresolved queries to a human expert. ICT and Innovation Minister Paula Ingabire says Tunga got 60% of test-phase questions right.
DeploymentManufacturing, Energy & ResourcesSouth Africa30 Aug 2026
BME brings a mining-specific AI model to drill-and-blast
BME — BME, an Omnia Holdings company, applies AI drill-and-blast optimisation and data analytics through a mining-specific 'vertical' AI model covering survey and planning to blast design, drilling, loading and hauling. Built into Xplosmart with BlastMap and the Xplolog drilling-data system, it uses digital twins and machine vision to follow rock from blast to crusher.
DeploymentFinance & InsuranceSouth Africa28 Aug 2026
Discovery Bank runs most client chats through its AI channel
Discovery Bank — Discovery Bank now handles over half of client interactions through its in-app AI banking channel, which works in natural language, chief executive Hylton Kallner told an African business AI summit. He said the in-app assistant was delivering the bank's highest customer-satisfaction scores yet.
DeploymentLegal & Professional ServicesSouth Africa28 Aug 2026
PwC Africa builds an AI tool that cuts sustainability reporting to hours
PwC Africa — PwC Africa has built an AI sustainability reporting tool that chief executive Dion Shango says shrinks two weeks of work to a couple of hours. He presented the reporting software at an African business AI summit as proof of AI moving from ambition into everyday operations.
Bank of Ghana puts AI behind its inflation forecasts
Bank of Ghana — The Bank of Ghana is applying AI, big data and machine learning to quicker economic intelligence, AI inflation forecasting, growth projections and earlier financial-risk spotting. First Deputy Governor Dr Zakari Mumuni outlined it at the Ghana Statistical Association's 4th Annual Statistics and Data Science Conference in Tamale. Fuzzy definitions, mismatched categories or badly checked data, he cautioned, can mislead even the most advanced forecasting models.
DeploymentLegal & Professional ServicesGhana26 Aug 2026
Ghana's finance ministry gives its lawyers the Eskwai legal AI
Ghana Ministry of Finance — Ghana's Ministry of Finance has given its Legal Directorate Kwame AI's Eskwai system for AI legal research across Ghanaian case law and legislation, Kwame AI says. The directorate researches and advises on law for the ministry and other economy-managing state bodies, now backed by the legal AI tool.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorMayotte26 Aug 2026
France to use AI and drones for coastal surveillance in Mayotte
French government — Mayotte will gain new AI coastal surveillance under a French plan Sébastien Lecornu confirmed, aimed at curbing seaborne illegal immigration. Radar upgrades, a fixed lookout base at M'tsamboro, long-range drones and trial balloons for constant altitude watch make up the toolkit. Officials called it a move toward stronger "militarisation" defending the island's sovereignty, part of wider AI-assisted border surveillance efforts.
Evidence of adoptionTechnology & SoftwareRéunion24 Aug 2026
73% of Réunion internet users already use AI tools
Pigé survey for Le Quotidien — AI tools Réunion adoption stands at 73% of internet users, a survey by Pigé for Le Quotidien found, matching levels seen in mainland France. The poll of 663 respondents aged 15 and over found artificial intelligence use has overtaken e-commerce in uptake speed, despite arriving on the island only in late 2022. Convenience and performance ratings for AI beat search engines, though trust and reliability lagged by up to 25 points.
Evidence of adoptionEducation & TrainingSomalia24 Aug 2026
Bile Initiative trains 160 Somali ICT graduates in AI and other skills
Bile Initiative / Tabaarak ICT Solutions — Tabaarak ICT Solutions and SomaliREN enrolled 160-plus final-year ICT students from 22 Mogadishu universities in round three of the Somali-run Bile Initiative, an AI training for university graduates scheme also covering cloud computing, software development and analysis. Hormuud Salaam Foundation funds it, steering graduates toward tech jobs. Women form 43 per cent of the cohort — an AI skills programme for ICT students too.
DeploymentFinance & InsuranceSouth Africa20 Aug 2026
Absa's AI customer-service chatbot passes 1.6 million users
Absa — Absa's agentic AI customer service chatbot, which understands natural-language queries and asks follow-up questions, has topped 1.6 million users and handles over 100,000 queries a month. Group chief information and technology officer Johnson Idesoh reported the agentic assistant's figures.
Namibia cancels a US firm's AI crop-monitoring contract
Government of Namibia — Namibia's Cabinet told officials to scrap a N$40 million deal with US agritech company 6th Grain Corporation for countrywide AI crop monitoring by satellite. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Land Reform then ended the Remote Sensing Agricultural Services Agreement, saying the satellite-monitoring deal broke the legal and procedural rules for state contracts. Earlier press coverage had queried how the tender was granted and whether an overseas company should oversee the nation's food production.
MINESEC puts 250 AI-built lab simulations into Cameroon's secondary schools
MINESEC — MINESEC assembled over 250 bilingual AI lab simulations in under a month, free and runnable offline, unveiling the secondary-school programme at the Centre AIDL on 17 August 2026. Muluh Godson, National Pedagogical Inspector for Computer Science, gave those figures; Chemistry, Biology, Arts and Letters and Industrial Techniques staff ran demonstrations, and Inspector General Adjaba Biwoli Jean Pierre cast the purpose as learning made interactive, practical, reachable. Minister Nalova Lyonga cautioned that AI stays a tool, pressing structuring, reasoned use and prompting, and asking teachers to raise pupils as creators. Cameroon aims these AI-generated science experiments at schools holding no physical laboratory.
SIMAD University adopts formal AI policy to govern teaching and research
SIMAD University — SIMAD University has approved an Artificial Intelligence Policy Framework covering AI in higher education for teaching, research and administration. Drafted by the SIMAD AI Institute and endorsed by the University Council, the AI policy for universities aims to support responsible adoption while upholding academic integrity, transparency, privacy and oversight by humans.
DeploymentMedia, Telecom & EntertainmentNigeria14 Aug 2026
Nigerian journalists get an AI line to report election attacks
International Press Centre — The International Press Centre piloted WAFLO, a WhatsApp-based AI election incident reporting system, during the Osun State governorship election. Journalists on duty logged harassment, intimidation, assaults, threats and other press freedom violations live over the WhatsApp line for monitoring and documentation. It runs under Component 4 of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Phase Two programme, with the Centre for Media and Society.
Evidence of impactGovernment & Public SectorZimbabwe14 Aug 2026
Harare's AI traffic cameras log two million violations
Government of Zimbabwe — Harare's Smart Traffic and Crime Management System, 24-hour AI traffic cameras at major intersections, has logged over two million violations, the government says, with ticketing to start after two weeks' warning. The camera network catches speeding, ignoring road signs, phone use at the wheel and unbelted travel. Telecoms parastatal TelOne delivered the project under the Mutapa Investment Fund.
Evidence of adoptionEducation & TrainingSomalia13 Aug 2026
Mogadishu University launches first cybersecurity and AI degree in Somalia
Mogadishu University — Somalia now has its first cybersecurity and AI degree, launched through Mogadishu University's Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology. The new qualification targets Somali graduates entering emerging-tech careers, part of a push to grow local capacity for the country's expanding digital economy.
RegulationGovernment & Public SectorDR Congo12 Aug 2026
DR Congo validates its first national AI strategy in Kinshasa
Ministry of Digital Economy — 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.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorRwanda10 Aug 2026
Rwanda launches a national satellite-data programme with Planet Labs
Government of Rwanda — The Government of Rwanda has started a nationwide satellite-data programme with Planet Labs through the Rwanda Space Agency, billed as Planet's first in Africa, serving agencies, public universities and selected startups. The near-daily imagery and data will aid disaster preparedness, urban planning, forest-health tracking and agriculture and food-security monitoring.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorSouth Africa10 Aug 2026
Cape Town unveils an AI guide for global investors
City of Cape Town — The City of Cape Town has unveiled Maya, an AI investment guide for firms eyeing the city, launched by Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth Alderman James Vos under the City's Cape Town. Built for Business campaign. Open 24 hours a day in eight languages including Afrikaans and isiXhosa, the AI guide takes users through municipal processes, investment openings and business support programmes and links them to relevant City officials.
SBS Bank Eswatini goes live with AI treasury platform
SBS Bank Eswatini — SBS Bank Eswatini runs treasury work on Intellect Design Arena's eMACH.ai Treasury platform, an AI-powered banking treasury tool covering money markets, foreign exchange and fixed-income securities at 100% automation. Automated SWIFT messaging cut manual effort by 90%. The move backs growth from building society into commercial bank, after a provisional licence from the Central Bank of Eswatini.
DeploymentLegal & Professional ServicesLiberia3 Aug 2026
Liblaw launches CJ Lewis, Liberia's first legal-learning AI platform
Liblaw — Liblaw has rolled out CJ Lewis for AI legal education in Liberia, the country's first legal-learning AI platform. Drawing on Liberian Supreme Court rulings from 1861 to 2026 alongside statutes and regulations, it turns complex law into plain explanations reachable by phone or computer for market women, farmers, students and journalists. Liblaw is Liberia's biggest digital law library.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorSomalia3 Aug 2026
WFP uses AI-powered HungerMap Live to target food aid in Somalia
World Food Programme — The UN World Food Programme (WFP) uses AI food aid targeting in Somalia through its HungerMap Live platform, forecasting hunger hotspots and pre-positioning resources before conditions worsen. In Burhakaba district, this predictive humanitarian AI approach enabled WFP to deliver food assistance for 48,000 people and nutrition support for 3,000 women and children. HungerMap Live 2.0, launched April 2026, added forecasting features guiding priority decisions for communities.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorSouth Africa1 Aug 2026
South Africa launches the Batho Pele AI chatbot for citizens
Dept of Public Service & Administration — South Africa's Department of Public Service and Administration has launched the 'Batho Pele' AI government chatbot with Meta and Juicetel, offering citizens and public servants instant answers on policies, circulars and legislation. Unveiled by Minister Mzamo Buthelezi on 31 July 2026, the policy assistant will grow to answer in nine official languages and backs human judgement rather than replacing it.
Seychelles makes an AI credential mandatory for all teachers
Cabinet of Seychelles / Ministry of Education — Seychelles' Cabinet has approved the National AI in Education Framework 2026–2030, requiring an AI micro-credential of every teacher. Schools each get an AI champion under a four-level teacher AI competency framework; a national steering committee will list approved and banned tools, and final grading and other high-stakes decisions keep human oversight in early phases.
Senegal launches Allô Gorgui AI assistant for students and teachers
Ministry of National Education of Senegal — Senegal's Ministry of National Education has rolled out Allô Gorgui, an AI assistant for students and teachers, developed with local startup Andakia and unveiled at the Concours général 2026 awards ceremony. It is an AI-powered educational assistant that gives spoken lesson explanations and exercise help in French, with Wolof support being added gradually, over an ordinary phone line with no smartphone or internet connection required. Coverage is set to widen to further national languages later on.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorBurkina Faso30 Jul 2026
Burkina Faso tickets drivers with AI cameras in Ouagadougou
Burkina Faso Ministry of Security — Burkina Faso's Ministry of Security started a nationwide video-ticketing trial in Ouagadougou on 7 April 2026, with high-definition AI traffic cameras spotting red-light, seatbelt, phone and speeding offences. Each flagged vehicle's owner gets an SMS with a link to pay; camera-based enforcement was scheduled to run fully from 1 August 2026.
Evidence of impactGovernment & Public SectorSouth Africa28 Jul 2026
South Africa's AI-screened e-visa has turned away 5,500 travellers
Department of Home Affairs — South Africa's electronic travel authorisation system has rejected over 5,500 travellers flagged as fraudulent or suspicious and approved over 85,000 since an October 2025 trial began, per home affairs minister Leon Schreiber. AI visa screening handles about 85% of applications automatically through AI-driven risk assessment and passport face-matching.
Nigeria unveils an AI satellite system to monitor crops
Federal Government of Nigeria — Nigeria's Federal Government unveiled NAPS, a national AI crop monitoring system built with OCP Africa and Ground Truth Analytics that reads satellite images refreshed every five days and pinpoints individual farms. Satellite farm mapping will spread in phases under a memorandum of understanding, from one state towards 15 priority states, following pilots the partners say reached 13 states and over 250,000 farmers.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorDjibouti22 Jul 2026
Djibouti's weather agency receives an upgraded AI alert system
Djibouti National Meteorological Agency — Djibouti's National Meteorological Agency received MAZU-Djibouti 2.0, an upgraded AI weather alert system, on 17 July 2026. AI-driven forecasts merge satellite and surface data three days out at 3 km resolution (was 9 km), update six-hourly and offer one-click warnings. It backs December 2025's urban multi-hazard early-warning network.
Abomey-Calavi adopts an AI strategy, usage charter and ethics framework
Université d'Abomey-Calavi — Benin's Université d'Abomey-Calavi has adopted SIAUAC, a university AI policy pairing strategy, usage charter and ethics framework. The AI usage charter fixes principles, rules and duties for students, lecturers and administrators. The ethics framework adds obligations, technical requirements and governance wherever AI touches teaching, research, innovation or administration. By 2030 it wants standing as an African benchmark for artificial intelligence that is responsible, inclusive and sovereign.
Evidence of impactGovernment & Public SectorAngola10 Jul 2026
Angola's tax AI finds 15,000 zero-revenue filers had transactions
Administração Geral Tributária (AGT) — Angola's General Tax Administration uncovered through AI tax audits that 15,000 of the 40,000 firms declaring no 2025 revenue on Industrial Tax returns had logged transactions. The authority began testing machine learning in 2024 and now compares what businesses declare; chair José Leiria says those firms were informed and several amended filings.
CCI Mayotte adopts AI platform for business creation support
CCI Mayotte — CCI Mayotte now offers AI business creation support via IDcreaCCIon, a digital platform from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Belfort steering founders from concept to launch. Advisors pair the software's output with their own know-how, covering funding, legal structure, financial forecasting and market study. Mayotte is the tool's first outpost beyond mainland France, already relied on by several French chambers for entrepreneurship support.
RegulationGovernment & Public SectorMali9 Jul 2026
Six West African nations including Mali adopt shared AI governance guidelines
Niyel / Governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Benin — Niyel, a West African advocacy group, has led six nations—Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea and Benin—into a joint framework for Mali AI governance and regional artificial intelligence policy. It urges transparent systems, stronger data protection, homegrown innovation and digital sovereignty, meant to supplement rather than replace each country's own strategy, and went to the UN, the United Nations, as a written submission at its first Global AI Dialogue in Geneva.
Evidence of adoptionGovernment & Public SectorEquatorial Guinea4 Jul 2026
Equatorial Guinea's transport ministry opens AI and robotics training with UNESCO
Ministry of Transport, Telecommunications and Civil Aviation — Equatorial Guinea's Ministry of Transport, Telecommunications and Civil Aviation has begun AI and robotics training in Malabo alongside UNESCO. Instructors are being taught machine-learning software, 3D modelling and 3D printing before passing the skills to school-age learners. Between 2026 and 2028 the wider scheme aims to reach 1,000 youngsters and 400 trainers, delivered with the Ministry of Education; agriculture and healthcare are the first targets of this AI upskilling drive.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesCameroon2 Jul 2026
WETECH takes an AI gender-violence reporting app into 11 Far North communes
WETECH — WETECH carried Alert GBV Lite, an Android app for AI gender-based violence reporting, into 11 communes of Cameroon's Far North via an outreach drive from 1 to 27 June 2026 with associations ADELPA and ALVFF. Its AI companion for survivors runs psychosocial orientation and structured reporting beside a geolocated SOS button capturing evidence mid-incident, a live service directory, anonymised secure case reporting, offline essentials, and French, English, Pidgin and Fulfuldé screens; without a smartphone or data, USSD code #080# takes a report. Project UNJP/CMR/061/EC, funded by DG ECHO and run by UNFPA Cameroon with FAO, covers it.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorSouth Africa1 Jul 2026
SARS picks every verification case with automated risk assessment
South African Revenue Service — The South African Revenue Service selects 100% of verification cases and 88.41% of complex audit cases by automated AI tax risk assessment, as machine learning checks declarations against third-party data from banks, employers, retirement funds, medical schemes and crypto reporting frameworks before returns are processed. More than 1.9 million taxpayers were auto-assessed, and about R8 billion refunded within 72 hours. Communications head Siphithi Sibeko says human oversight and governance processes review the models' risk indicators before any enforcement.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesBenin1 Jul 2026
Benin sprays larvicide by drone in six malaria communes
Benin Ministry of Health — Benin's Ministry of Health has switched on AI malaria vector control in six communes: Copargo, Djougou, Tchaourou, Ouidah, Abomey-Calavi and Cotonou, about 336,000 residents. Geospatial mapping plus artificial intelligence flag probable mosquito breeding pools; drone crews douse the water with larvicide. Health Minister Benjamin Hounkpatin ties drone larviciding to tighter aim and quicker turnaround. Japan bankrolls the 2.3 million dollar pilot with UNICEF and the World Health Organization.
DeploymentEducation & TrainingSouth Sudan29 Jun 2026
MTN and government launch AI-supported Junub Academy e-learning platform
MTN South Sudan, Ministry of General Education and Instruction, Educare Organization South Sudan — MTN South Sudan has launched Junub Academy, a national e-learning platform providing AI-supported education in South Sudan free of data charges. Partners are the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, the Ministry of ICT and Postal Services, and Educare Organization. Students and teachers gain curriculum materials, teacher training, digital skills courses and AI-driven learning tools, backing the government's Free Education Policy.
Congo's education ministry marks the 2026 state exam with AI software
Ministry of National Education and New Citizenship — 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.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesCameroon25 Jun 2026
Waspito puts an AI health assistant on WhatsApp for Cameroon
Waspito — Waspito opened AHIM, the African Health Intelligent Model, as an AI health assistant answering 24/7 on WhatsApp in English and French from any country. The Africa-focused platform channels queries, laboratory orders, prescription and record uploads, cover purchases and doctor referral through that WhatsApp health chatbot, while stressing AHIM supplants no clinician: consultation, diagnosis and treatment stay with qualified physicians on its roster. Entry costs nothing; billing falls on whichever care is taken up, from 3,000 FCFA with a general practitioner and 6,000 FCFA with a specialist doctor. Begun 2020 in Cameroon, Waspito reports its own totals: more than 1 million users, over 250,000 patients served, upwards of 2,000 licensed doctors.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesSierra Leone25 Jun 2026
Sierra Leone tests AI-powered smart trap to track malaria mosquitoes
Ministry of Health, Sierra Leone — Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health, working with the Gates Foundation and China CDC, has launched an AI mosquito surveillance device that snaps images, sorts mosquitoes by species and tallies numbers on its own, instantly. The three-year initiative's first stage kicks off 1 July 2026, arming officials with a real-time activity map to sharpen where vector control efforts land. This automated insect-borne disease monitoring approach could reshape how the country tracks malaria risk.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorGhana23 Jun 2026
Ghana's courts will give all 445 judges an AI assistant
Judicial Service of Ghana — Ghana's Judicial Service will equip all 445 judges and magistrates with Eskwai Clerk, an AI judicial assistant built alongside Kwame AI for legal research, reviewing documents and writing rulings and judgments. Training will frame the AI helper for the bench as an aid that leaves judicial discretion intact.
DeploymentManufacturing, Energy & ResourcesBurundi20 Jun 2026
KoBold Metals puts AI to work on Burundi's geological archives
KoBold Metals — KoBold Metals has started AI mineral exploration over Burundi's geoscientific archives, a three-year job commissioned on 12 March 2026 and paid for by the firm. Holdings from national services and the Royal Museum for Central Africa are going digital, targeting scandium, nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals. The government keeps ownership, local technicians are in training, and some material was due on the web by July 2026, with machine-learning prospecting sifting the files.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesCote d'Ivoire18 Jun 2026
Côte d'Ivoire pilots AI-read X-rays for childhood tuberculosis
Côte d'Ivoire National Tuberculosis Programme (PNLT) — Côte d'Ivoire's National Tuberculosis Programme and research partner PAC-CI began trialling eHealth4Child-TB in Sassandra on 16 June 2026, bringing AI chest X-ray reading to childhood tuberculosis care. Health workers get AI-analysed radiography plus treatment decision-support algorithms, now spreading across the Abengourou, Agboville and Sassandra health districts.
RegulationGovernment & Public SectorBenin17 Jun 2026
Benin arrests a TikToker over an AI image of Patrice Talon
Centre national d'investigations numériques — A Beninese TikToker posting as Fresnel was detained on 11 June 2026 over an AI-generated image pairing him with former head of state Patrice Talon. Article 576 of the Code du numérique criminalises malicious doctoring of photographs, audio or video, drawing five years' jail and a 25 million CFA franc fine. The Centre national d'investigations numériques had warned days before against exactly this synthetic likeness.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorFrench Southern Territories17 Jun 2026
TAAF uses machine learning to map Amsterdam Island habitats from satellite imagery
French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) — Sorting terrain across Amsterdam and Saint Paul Islands into 55 distinct categories at 92.6% accuracy, France's TAAF (French Southern and Antarctic Lands) now runs AI habitat mapping through its Cartovege2 machine learning tool, drawing on Pleiades pictures shot from orbit at 50cm resolution. Built alongside the University of Rennes and the French Polar Institute, the system converts raw imagery into usable conservation data, advancing satellite habitat classification from research project to working instrument. Staff had already leaned on it to gauge harm after fire tore through half of Amsterdam Island in January 2025.
Jigawa will use AI to teach pupils who miss school
Jigawa State Government — Jigawa State will offer AI home learning to state-school pupils who miss class through farm labour, poor weather or other interruptions, via the JigawaUNITE programme with NewGlobe. Officials say the AI-powered education system will also coach teachers in class, guide instruction live and track performance.
Evidence of impactHealthcare & Life SciencesMalawi11 Jun 2026
AI monitoring system cuts child deaths by up to 51% in Malawian hospitals
Mangochi District Hospital / Kamuzu University of Health Sciences — IMPALA, an AI patient monitoring platform in over 20 Malawian hospitals, cut child deaths 40 to 51 percent at two sites in 2023-2024 versus the prior year. It flags deterioration three hours early via nurse tablet alerts. Over 100,000 patients have used wards with the tool, now also in Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Gabon, extending AI-powered patient deterioration prediction regionally.
DeploymentFinance & InsuranceSouth Africa4 Jun 2026
Nedbank hands small-loan decisions to Jumo's AI scoring engine
Nedbank — Nedbank's Quick Loans, short-term lending in the Money App, takes credit decisions from fintech Jumo's engine for AI credit scoring. Affordability checks run live on alternative financial data, with loans of R500 to R50,000 paid in as few as five minutes, for clients with thin or no credit bureau history too.
Evidence of adoptionBusiness OperationsDR Congo3 Jun 2026
Congolese micro-entrepreneurs use AI for translation, logos and customer replies
Universite Technologique du Congo — 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.
RegulationGovernment & Public SectorBenin2 Jun 2026
Benin warns AI edits of someone's image risk five years in prison
Centre national d'investigations numériques — Benin's Centre national d'investigations numériques has spelled out penalties for AI image manipulation: reshaping, inventing or circulating another's likeness without consent. Such AI-altered likenesses breach image rights and draw prosecution under article 576 of the Code du numérique, which permits five years' jail and a 25 million FCFA fine, about 44,400 dollars.
RegulationMedia, Telecom & EntertainmentSouth Sudan2 Jun 2026
South Sudan Media Authority approves AI use in newsrooms
South Sudan Media Authority — AI in newsrooms now has official backing in South Sudan, as the Media Authority tells outlets to embrace the technology carefully. Speaking in Juba, Sapana Abuyi said nothing bars its use, but pushed for training staff on verifying AI-generated material before publishing. News came via a gathering run by the Union of Journalists of South Sudan and Norwegian People's Aid.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorGhana28 May 2026
Ghana's disaster agency launches an AI chatbot for flood and drought alerts
National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) — Ghana's National Disaster Management Organisation introduced a WhatsApp tool for AI disaster alerts on 27 May 2026, developed by UNESCO with Government of Japan backing. The flood and drought chatbot sends forecasts, warnings and advice, and residents flag hazards and updates to disaster agencies. NADMO's Director-General wants responders using it daily.
Evidence of impactAgriculture & FoodBenin26 May 2026
Generative AI use tracks stronger advisory work by 240 Benin extension agents
Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence — Generative AI for agricultural extension went with measurably stronger advisory work among 240 extension agents sampled across six districts of northern Benin (β = 0.411, t = 8.229, p < 0.001). Agents carrying heavier caseloads and tighter deadlines picked up AI advisory tools more readily. Enthusiasm came hedged: respondents balked at leaning wholly on the technology, naming professional judgment, accountability and trust in AI outputs; the questionnaire was fielded March to May 2024.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorNigeria21 May 2026
Nigeria launches GovGuide, an AI chatbot for government services
Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy — Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy launched GovGuide Nigeria, an AI chatbot for government services answering citizens by voice or text in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Local firm Publica AI built the voice-and-text assistant on Meta's open-source Llama models with the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.
Kenya Airways prices fares with FlyNava's AI platform
Kenya Airways — Kenya Airways has taken on Jupiter 5.0, FlyNava Technologies' system for AI fare pricing. With the AI-driven pricing tool, the airline's revenue team models new fare structures before rollout and responds quicker to shifting demand while pricing calls stay visible.
DeploymentTransport & LogisticsSouth Africa19 May 2026
Western Cape scans 5,000 km of roads for defects with AI
Western Cape Department of Infrastructure — The Western Cape Department of Infrastructure watches about 5,000 km of strategic provincial roads with Bentley Systems' Blyncsy, the technology's first African use, per Bentley. The AI road inspection tool runs machine learning over crowdsourced dash-camera footage to flag damaged guardrails, missing signs, broken streetlights, debris and encroaching vegetation. Maintenance crews now go where most needed, says the chief engineer for the province's transport infrastructure systems.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesTanzania13 May 2026
Zanzibar launches an AI drone pilot against mosquito breeding sites
Zanzibar Ministry of Health (ZAMEP) — Zanzibar's Ministry of Health, through the Zanzibar Malaria Elimination Programme, has launched AI drone mosquito control to find and treat breeding sites, with WHO, Japan's SORA Technology and the Ifakara Health Institute, funded by the Government of Japan. Drone surveillance reaches places conventional methods miss and lets health teams treat breeding sites on detection, officials say. Malaria prevalence on the islands is 0.04 percent.
Heirs Insurance launches Prince AI to sell policies and track claims
Heirs Insurance Group — Heirs Insurance Group has introduced Prince AI, an AI insurance assistant answering queries in languages such as English, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, French and Chinese. On WhatsApp, the SimpleLife mobile app and the insurer's site, the generative AI handles policy purchases, renewals, and filing and tracking claims.
DeploymentEducation & TrainingMadagascar11 May 2026
FHI 360 pilots AI chatbot for teacher training in rural Madagascar
FHI 360 — FHI 360 piloted an AI chatbot for teacher training with 16 primary school instructors and instructional leaders in Madagascar's Atsimo-Atsinanana region under its FIANTSO project, a three-week trial in January. This AI teacher-training assistant answers pedagogy questions in Malagasy, including regional dialects, using Ministry of Education-validated materials. Feedback was strong: 70% rated it very useful, and 80% said it was simple to use.
DeploymentMedia, Telecom & EntertainmentCabo Verde8 May 2026
Kriol Think's election AI answers 802 voter questions in 14 days
Kriol Think — Kriol Think fielded 802 queries over a 14-day run at 100% uptime through the AI electoral assistant Nós AI Eleitor 2026, built by Edson da Veiga for Cabo Verde's legislative elections. Anthropic's Claude Haiku 4.5 drafted every reply strictly from the parties' own electoral programmes, three loaded, MpD, PAICV and UCID, while PTS and PP awaited release, and each response pinpointed the underlying passages. Guardrails barred political views, party endorsements and fabricated material, obliged the assistant to concede gaps, and excluded identifiable personal data, stored query wording and tracking cookies. Unaligned and free, this election AI tool emerged from a non-profit civic venture whose running costs Edson da Veiga chased via GoFundMe; the usage totals are Kriol Think's own, surfacing on an archive page after the ballot.
CUBE pilots AI learning tutor in Gambian secondary schools
CUBE The Gambia — CUBE The Gambia is piloting its home-built CUBE AI Tutor on 150 secondary pupils across three Region 1 schools, trialling AI tutoring in Gambian classrooms: St Augustine's Senior Secondary School, St Joseph's Senior Secondary School and Charles Jow Memorial Academy. The offline-ready, curriculum-matched tool, an AI learning platform for secondary students, adds speech-to-text and text-to-speech. Pupils trial it for two months, then give feedback.
Guinea's education ministry to launch Barrin AI assistant for baccalaureate students
Ministry of National Education, Literacy, Technical Education and Vocational Training of Guinea — Guinea's Ministry of National Education will launch an AI exam-prep tool called Barrin to support baccalaureate candidates preparing for their exams. Minister Alpha Bacar Barry revealed the AI-powered study companion at a STEM teacher training session, saying it would go live the following week. Students will gain access to educational resources, including worked solutions drawn from earlier mathematics papers and other subjects.
AI use reaches 8.7% of Central African Republic's working-age population
Microsoft AI Economy Institute — AI adoption in the Central African Republic reached 8.7% of the working-age population in the first quarter of 2026, 0.9 points above 7.8% for the second half of 2025 and 7.0% for the half before. Worldwide the share moved from 16.3% to 17.8% over those months, on the Microsoft AI Economy Institute count. Its gauge tracks generative AI use among 15- to 64-year-olds, from pooled, anonymised Microsoft telemetry corrected for operating system, device-market share, internet reach and population.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesUganda29 Apr 2026
Uganda puts AI handheld ultrasound in the hands of midwives
Uganda Ministry of Health — Uganda's Ministry of Health has introduced AI handheld ultrasound in Kampala, so midwives and nurses can examine pregnant women and read results without advanced radiology training. Nicosam Healthcare delivered fifteen Gates Foundation-funded devices; over 300 health workers are trained, with at least 600 targeted by the end of 2026. Midwives at lower-level facilities can consult referral-hospital specialists on AI-assisted scans; the ministry says only about 28% of pregnant women in the country currently get even one ultrasound.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorNigeria28 Apr 2026
Lagos uses AI to screen emergency reports for pranks
Lagos State Government — The Lagos State Government's Lagos Emergency Responders Management System went live on 27 April 2026, connecting the state ambulance service, LASTMA and the fire service to the Lagos State Command and Control Centre. AI emergency call screening checks reports live, acting as a prank-call filter against false alarms, and pinpoints callers automatically.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorGambia27 Apr 2026
Gambia launches AI-powered misinformation response centre
Government of The Gambia — The Government of The Gambia has commissioned the National Misinformation and Disinformation Response Centre, an AI-powered misinformation detection platform under the Ministry of Information that scans online conversations, spots emerging false-content trends and verifies claims against trusted sources, functioning as an AI-driven disinformation monitoring hub. Officials call it West Africa's first such centre, built by Gambian firm Dundal Systems with ECOWAS backing and unveiled at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre.
communications professionals, media monitorsgrts.gm
RegulationGovernment & Public SectorBurundi24 Apr 2026
Burundi validates its national AI strategy in Bujumbura
Ministry of Finance, Budget and Digital Economy / UNDP — Burundi's Ministry of Finance, Budget and Digital Economy, with the United Nations Development Programme, cleared the Stratégie nationale de l'intelligence artificielle, or SNIA, on 21 and 22 April 2026. Six pillars carry the Burundi AI policy: public leadership, data plumbing, schooling, invention, high-impact uses, ethics, inclusion. The national AI roadmap promises 1000-plus state employees trained, fifteen trial schemes in agriculture and health, incubators at Bujumbura, Ngozi and Gitega, and by 2030 a driver of fair growth and youth work.
IPAM pilots AI-supported online examination system for higher education
Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM) — IPAM, Sierra Leone's Institute of Public Administration and Management, built Academic Hub, an AI essay marking and online exam platform, to boost integrity and transparency in higher education. Trials with students went well, so officials plan wider rollout, including at the University of Sierra Leone. The AI-supported online examination system should improve grading accuracy and cut result delays.
Capitec gives almost 5,000 staff AI tools and an agent for credit
Capitec Bank — Capitec Bank has equipped almost 5,000 employees with AI tools and runs agentic AI in credit processing for business banking, Capitec's 2026 integrated annual report says. Capitec Pulse AI, built in-house, feeds client support agents live client information, and generative AI now works in production for compliance. The bank says the rollout is well past the experimental stage.
Econet launches EcoFarmer AI platform for Zimbabwean farmers
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe — An AI platform for farmers named EcoFarmer AI has gone live in Zimbabwe, built by Econet Wireless Zimbabwe as an artificial intelligence-powered agriculture platform to sharpen decision-making. It uses exact field coordinates to model conditions up to 100 days out, then suggests planting, watering and input timing from soil readings and local forecasts. The launch sits under Econet AI, the firm's AI arm set up April 2026.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorKenya20 Apr 2026
Murang'a County launches an app with AI legal and farm advice
Murang'a County Government — Murang'a County's MyMurang'a app puts every county department in one place, adding an AI legal chatbot for on-the-spot answers and pro bono referrals. Residents can book clinics, search land records and seek business permits or bursaries; farmers get AI tips on pests and plant diseases. Governor Irungu Kang'ata unveiled the legal-AI app in Kenol.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorRéunion15 Apr 2026
DRFiP Réunion uses AI and aerial imagery to catch tax fraud
Direction Régionale des Finances Publiques (DRFiP) de La Réunion — Direction Régionale des Finances Publiques (DRFiP) Réunion applies AI to aerial photographs, uncovering over a thousand unreported swimming pools for property tax purposes. This AI tax fraud detection effort, running since 2025, is expanding to catch unpermitted building work like garages and terraces, with AI-assisted tax compliance also helping agents verify claimed expenses during income tax filing periods.
DeploymentManufacturing, Energy & ResourcesDR Congo13 Apr 2026
KoBold Metals opens an AI lithium exploration campaign across 13 Congolese licences
KoBold Metals — 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.
Somalia's information ministry deploys AI for translation and content generation
Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism (Somalia) — Somalia's Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism now uses AI translation for government media, folding automated content generation for public broadcasting into one digital distribution pipeline. A ministry communications consultant told the East Africa Science and Technology Commission summit the shift has cut editorial production time sharply, replacing manual steps with a faster information network.
RegulationGovernment & Public SectorGabon12 Apr 2026
Gabon enacts ordinance requiring AI-generated content to be labelled
Government of Gabon — Gabon's Ordinance n°0011/PR/2026, dated 26 February 2026, introduces AI content labelling: synthetic text, images, video and deepfakes must bear an indelible mark showing they are artificial. Articles 32 to 34 and 53 also oblige platforms to run automatic detection systems, and outlaw explicit sexual deepfakes, wrongly crediting statements to public figures, and posing as state institutions. The rules rank among Africa's earliest binding measures on synthetic media marking.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesEthiopia11 Apr 2026
Ethiopia gives remote health extension workers an AI assistant
Ethiopian Ministry of Health — Ethiopia's Ministry of Health and US-based Last Mile Health have introduced HEP Assist, an AI assistant for health extension workers serving remote communities, across seven regions and 15 woredas. Answers come solely from 100 Ministry of Health guidelines through retrieval-augmented generation. Officials credit the workers' AI tool with over 6,000 consultations since January 2025, initially via call agents, now hands-on.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesTanzania9 Apr 2026
Tanzania's national heart institute opens an AI and robotic lab
Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute — The Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute in Dar es Salaam opened a laboratory with AI lab automation and robotic sample processing, cutting test-result waits from three hours to one, chief executive Peter Kisenge says. Samples are analysed precisely, and the lab doubles as a live training site for local health professionals.
RegulationGovernment & Public SectorCongo8 Apr 2026
Congo's National Assembly adopts AI ethics rules in a research law
National Assembly of Congo — The National Assembly of Congo passed a bill steering scientific research and technological innovation, a text carried by the Ministry of Scientific Research and Technological Innovation to modernise the sector and absorb what artificial intelligence now demands. This Congo AI regulation writes an ethical framework around such technologies and stands up a national committee accountable for responsible use, answering to norms in force and to social values. Caria is also foreseen to organise work in the field. Jean-Luc Marcel Mouthou, whose portfolio covers preschool, primary and secondary education plus literacy, presented these AI governance rules to deputies, calling them an important step.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorZimbabwe8 Apr 2026
Zimbabwe announces AI Cyber Shield to fight AI-powered fraud
Government of Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe will launch AI fraud detection financial services through the Zimbabwe AI Cyber Shield, a national programme under the country's National AI Strategy. ICT Minister Tatenda Mavetera outlined a 12-month rollout at the Cyber Fraud and AI Summit, alongside training for 10,000 cybersecurity professionals in AI-powered fraud prevention and a legal framework for ethical AI use in cyber defence. Mobile money fraud driven by AI drains US$30 million from Zimbabwe each year, the reason behind the push.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesBotswana8 Apr 2026
Bomaid launches AI-driven wellness platform for all members
Botswana Medical Aid Society — Botswana Medical Aid Society's 90,000 members can now unlock a face-scan health score via Thrive with Bomaid, an AI wellness app on ordinary smartphone cameras. Over 70 biometric inputs, spanning heart rate, stress and blood pressure, generate a VivaScore, paired with automated nudges, reports and goals inside this AI health scoring platform. Debswana and Engen tested it for three months first.
Radio Ndeke Luka's StopAtènè unit flags an AI-made Kim Jong-un video
Radio Ndeke Luka — Radio Ndeke Luka's Bangui verification desk, #StopAtenè, ran AI deepfake detection, the tool Hive Detection, against a clip alleging Kim Jong-un's pledge of North Korean military backing for Iran. It measured a 98.5% probability the clip's voice was synthetic, with manipulation markers elsewhere in the footage, and separately caught the clip misdating a Kim address to 25 March 2026 against his genuine 23 March appearance. #StopAtenè's verdict, published 2 April 2026 through AI-generated video verification, found no proof behind the claim.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesNamibia1 Apr 2026
Namibian private hospital network deploys AI patient agents
Medfam Holdings (Rhino Park Private Hospital, Welwitschia Hospital) — AI patient experience agents now handle admissions and support at two Namibian hospitals run by Medfam Holdings, the country's largest private hospital network: Rhino Park Private Hospital in Windhoek and Welwitschia Hospital in Walvis Bay. Patients reach the system via WhatsApp or webchat in Afrikaans, English and German for intake data, complaints, surgical guidance, specialist lookups and quote requests. One shared platform links both sites, so a patient can move between hospitals without repeating details, an early case of AI in healthcare administration.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorCote d'Ivoire19 Mar 2026
Côte d'Ivoire launches EMY 101, an AI chatbot for citizens
Government of Côte d'Ivoire — The Ivorian government has launched EMY 101, an AI government chatbot on WhatsApp and Messenger that explains state policy and official formalities, from civil registration to tax. Users can also voice worries, flag alerts and find the correct public-service contact through the citizen assistant, supported by the free 101 line.
Akwa Ibom brings EIDU's AI teaching model to 67 primary schools
Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Education — Akwa Ibom State launched an AI teaching programme in public primary schools with EIDU and the state Ministry of Education, offering pupils personalised learning and teachers structured lessons. Phase one targets about 6,000 pupils in 67 schools in 2025/26, and live data lets teachers and heads spot learning gaps early.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorTogo13 Mar 2026
Togo puts AI fraud detection behind its product-marking controls
Togo Ministry of Economy and Strategic Oversight — Togo's economy minister Badanam Patoki unveiled the Digital Market Intelligence platform in Lomé on 12 March 2026, bringing AI fraud detection and data analysis to automated product-marking enforcement. SICPA's Togolese subsidiary built the tool, which flags potentially counterfeit consumer goods so Office Togolais des Recettes agents and Ministry of Commerce inspectors can aim inspections and market surveillance.
RegulationMedia, Telecom & EntertainmentBenin13 Mar 2026
Benin's media regulator bars AI manipulation in election coverage
Haute autorité de l'audiovisuel et de la communication — The Haute Autorité de l'Audiovisuel et de la Communication forbade newsrooms to doctor what goes to air, or what candidates say, using “uncontrolled and irresponsible” artificial intelligence. That Benin AI regulation shaped the presidential ballot of 12 April 2026, the opening round's canvassing window running 27 March to 10 April. Outlets straying from the AI campaign rules risk penalties reaching instant removal from official election coverage.
Nigeria's central bank writes AI into its anti-money-laundering rules
Central Bank of Nigeria — The Central Bank of Nigeria's baseline standards oblige banks, fintechs and payment firms to adopt automated anti-money-laundering systems, the bank's first AI AML rules. They favour automated risk scoring, anomaly detection and behavioural pattern recognition, demand at least yearly independent validation of machine-learning models and require explanations for every alert.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesKenya5 Mar 2026
Kenya's health ministry will embed AI in community health work
Kenya Ministry of Health — Kenya's Ministry of Health will put AI in community health through Causal Foundry, an adaptive-intelligence specialist in medical care. Causal Foundry is to draw patterns from live household records gathered by the 100,000 community health promoters given smartphones by the state, directing care and resources where demand is highest. Ministry officials have already discussed rollout with the firm.
DeploymentLegal & Professional ServicesSouth Africa3 Mar 2026
Bowmans rolls out Legora's legal AI after a pilot
Bowmans — Pan-African law firm Bowmans is rolling out Legora's legal AI platform after a successful pilot, Legora says. Bowmans lawyers now review documents faster, draft, and build and embed AI-driven workflows.
Cova puts AI pricing into Cameroon's compulsory motor insurance
Cova — Cova switched on AI motor insurance pricing for compulsory cover in Cameroon on 26 February 2026: film the vehicle's carte grise, or a lodging receipt, and the regulated tariff returns in one click, renewal premiums prepayable remotely. Reading fiscal horsepower, use and energy type off the document against the standing tariff grid cuts keying mistakes and compresses sign-up times, by Cova's own account. Collection runs through mobile payment aggregators Maviance, UFIPAY and MaMoni Pay, plus Express Union Microfinance and MaMoni Finances counters. Managing director Virginie Pouna Ngomi framed the automated premium quotation as cover simpler and more dependable, licensed brokers and partner insurers undisplaced; Cova holds a broker licence in the CIMA zone and came via the BimaLab Africa accelerator.
Britam settles minor motor claims in two hours with AI assessment
Britam General Insurance — Britam General Insurance settles light motor claims in two hours, against the industry's five working days, through AI claims assessment at Britam Centre's Nairobi drive-through. AI grades damage photos in about 15 minutes, an electronic claim form reaches the owner's handset and in-house checks take 30 minutes. Comprehensive motor policyholders qualify for AI-assessed claims.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesUganda26 Feb 2026
Uganda's cancer programme to roll out AI-assisted cervical screening
Uganda Cancer Institute — Uganda's national programme against cervical cancer, operated by the Uganda Cancer Institute and Ministry of Health alongside the Korea Foundation for International Healthcare, will roll out AI cervical cancer screening with AI-assisted visual inspection (AI-VIA) devices, expected to speed and sharpen detection. Its three-year pilot has screened over 35,000 women aged 25 to 65 in Kampala and Mbarara, treating more than 3,000 with pre-cancerous lesions.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorRwanda20 Feb 2026
Rwanda's London mission launches Nshuti, an AI consular chatbot
High Commission of Rwanda in the United Kingdom — Rwanda's High Commission in the United Kingdom has launched Nshuti, an AI consular chatbot on WhatsApp and the mission's website giving the diaspora and others seeking services instant consular answers. The in-house assistant guides users on appointments, passport applications and renewals, document registration and certification, and national ID enquiries.
AI early warning system SAADAAL protects Somali farmers from climate disasters
Shaqodoon Organization — Somali NGO Shaqodoon Organization built SAADAAL, an AI early warning system giving farmers advance notice of droughts and floods. Partnered with Southwest State's Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, the tool reads live water sensor and weather station data, texting alerts straight to phones ahead of disaster. BBC News Somali covered this climate risk forecasting work for agriculture.
Congo's entrepreneurship guarantee fund launches an AI business-plan platform
Fonds de Garantie de l'Entrepreneuriat au Congo — 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.
Mauritius pilots the mytGPT Education AI assistant in public schools
Mauritius Ministry of Education — Mauritius's Ministry of Education and Mauritius Telecom introduced mytGPT Education on 26 January 2026, a generative AI teaching assistant trialled with pupils in Grades 4, 7, 8 and 9. The classroom AI generates quizzes and lesson resources and shows teachers student performance, in English, French and phonetic Creole, following the national curriculum.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorGhana1 Feb 2026
Ghana runs every import declaration through an AI valuation system
Ghana Revenue Authority — The Ghana Revenue Authority says customs takings rose from GH¢2.4 billion to GH¢3.6 billion within weeks of Publican AI going live at Tema Port. This AI customs valuation system checks declared import prices against global trade databases with machine-learning models and routes suspicious entries to a customs officer before clearance. Freight forwarders and importer groups call it opaque and slow at the busiest port, prompting an April media briefing.
DeploymentHealthcare & Life SciencesKenya29 Jan 2026
Kenya's health authority runs claims through an AI fraud engine
Social Health Authority — Kenya's Social Health Authority vets health insurance claims on arrival with AI fraud detection that highlights irregularities, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale informed the Senate Health Committee. The fraud engine exposed a Kwale County member enrolled with 381 dependent children and monitors service trends at each facility, spotting patients logged for dialysis ten times a day. Suspect cases go to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Evidence of adoptionGovernment & Public SectorMadagascar29 Jan 2026
Madagascar launches ASAN'AI digital skills programme for 1,300 youth
Government of Madagascar — Madagascar's Government has opened ASAN'AI, a free 15-month AI digital skills training scheme for 1,300 young Malagasy. Delivered with the World Bank and private firms Intelcia, Konecta, Connecteo and Concentrix, this AI skills programme builds capacity for high-demand roles in business process outsourcing, including augmented customer experience work. A first batch of 280 trainees began placement from month three.
Ogun State launches the OgunLearn AI teaching platform
Ogun State Government — Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun launched OgunLearn, an AI learning platform for the state's schools offering students lesson resources and interactive support. The AI-powered teaching tool should help teachers prepare, deliver and monitor performance more efficiently, within an education digitisation agenda alongside the Diper school management system.
Pyramid Continental Hotel deploys South Sudan's first AI robot waitress
Pyramid Continental Hotel — A humanoid figure named Ayen now greets diners at Pyramid Continental Hotel in Juba, marking South Sudan's first AI robot waitress hospitality installation. She wanders the dining floor, converses with patrons, and reinforces food and beverage staff, sharpening the overall guest experience — billed as the nation's debut humanoid service robot hotel case.
DeploymentTransport & LogisticsMozambique2 Jan 2026
Cornelder uses AI to locate containers at the Port of Beira
Cornelder de Moçambique — Cornelder de Moçambique, which runs the Port of Beira, has deployed Terminal Flow, a home-grown AI container tracking tool for boxed cargo. The cargo-location system shows long-reach forklift operators exactly where each box sits and where its load is bound, says managing director Jan de Vries.
Kenya's courts now get AI transcripts of proceedings overnight
Judiciary of Kenya — Kenya's Judiciary has moved from trial to routine AI court transcription, capturing proceedings electronically with transcripts ready overnight. Supreme Court Judge Isaac Lenaola presented it at the AI Everything Summit at Gitex Kenya in Nairobi, adding that the Judiciary plans a countrywide hub to pool transcription for all courts. A Judiciary chatbot also responds to public legal queries.
Investec — Investec has given all 8,000 employees Microsoft Copilot across South African, UK and wider overseas businesses, calling it the country's first whole-workforce Copilot launch. More than 800 AI agents in banking now handle everyday analysis, drafting, reconciliation and admin work group-wide, saving over 350,000 staff hours annually by Investec's estimate. Lyndon Subroyen, global head of digital and technology, backs the bank-wide AI programme with training and an AI governance framework.
Ethiopia pilots an offline AI assistant for secondary teachers
Ethiopian Ministry of Education — Ethiopia's Ministry of Education and Huawei began trialling a national-curriculum AI teacher assistant for grades 9 to 12 on 14 May 2026. Working entirely without internet access, the classroom AI lets teachers draft exams and lesson plans faster where networks are weak.
Centrafrique Check's AI tools unmask a fake MSF arrest photo
Centrafrique Check — Centrafrique Check, a Bangui fact-checking outlet, ran AI image detection with two tools, MyDetector and TruthScan, on a photo attached to claims a French national had been arrested in Zémio, Haut-Mbomou, circulating from around 7 March 2026. Médecins Sans Frontières had confirmed the detention, around 4 March 2026, of two of its own staff, one French and one Central African, taken to Bangui. Both tools put roughly 98% odds on artificial generation, pointing to a skin-tone mismatch on the soldier's hand where it gripped the detainee. AI-generated photo verification found the arrest genuine, the picture false.
Evidence of adoptionBusiness OperationsChad2026-05
Chad's AI use climbs to 8.7% of the working-age population
Microsoft AI Economy Institute — AI adoption in Chad stands at 8.7% of the working-age population for the opening quarter of 2026, a gain of 0.9 points on 7.8% across late 2025 and 7.0% earlier that year. The world average climbed 16.3% to 17.8%, the Global South 14.1% to 15.4%. Microsoft's AI Economy Institute derives generative AI use among 15- to 64-year-olds from pooled, anonymised telemetry, corrected for handset and operating-system mix, connectivity and headcount.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorEthiopia26 Nov 2025
Oromia Supreme Court partners with AI Institute for Afaan Oromo transcription
Supreme Court of Oromia — Afaan Oromo court hearings will get an AI court transcription system under a new pact between Ethiopia's Supreme Court of Oromia and the Ethiopian Artificial Intelligence Institute (EAII), turning spoken arguments into written records automatically. Slow manual conversion of oral testimony had long frustrated the Oromia bench, prompting the collaboration. EAII's Dr Worku Gachena called natural language processing central to the institute's mission, framing this as an instance of automated speech-to-text for legal proceedings.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorEthiopia10 Oct 2025
Ethiopia launches AI customs chatbot and passenger risk system
Ethiopian Customs Commission — Ethiopia's Customs Commission gained four digital tools built by the Ethiopian Artificial Intelligence Institute: an AI customs chatbot, an AI-powered Passenger Risk Management System serving as a passenger screening tool, electronic cargo tracking, and smart border control management. Abiy Ahmed backed the rollout, citing hopes for less smuggling and clearer border dealings.
DeploymentGovernment & Public SectorEthiopia13 Jul 2025
Ethiopian Federal Police signs deal for AI-powered smart station
Ethiopian Federal Police Commission — Ethiopia's Ethiopian Artificial Intelligence Institute and Ethiopian Federal Police Commission signed a deal to build a Smart Police Station, positioning the country as a leader in AI-driven policing. EAII's Worku Gachena said the project folds AI solutions into policing nationwide. It follows an earlier EFPApp partnership credited with strengthened operational efficiency.
AI tutor lifts Nigerian students' learning in World Bank trial
A World Bank randomised trial in Edo State, Nigeria showed AI tutoring lifting learning by roughly 0.31 standard deviations, and 0.23 in English, across a six-week after-school scheme for about 800 senior-secondary students. Supervised by teachers, pupils used a generative-AI tutor, Microsoft Copilot powered by GPT-4; the World Bank likens the improvement to about two years of typical learning, and end-of-year exam scores rose too. A formal working paper records the trial.
PlantVillage Nuru app diagnoses crop disease more accurately than field agents
PlantVillage Nuru, a free offline phone app for AI crop disease diagnosis from Penn State University, the FAO, IITA and CIMMYT, scored 65 per cent on cassava viral-disease symptoms in peer-reviewed trials, beating extension agents (40 to 58 per cent) and farmers (18 to 31 per cent). Its deep-learning plant diagnosis serves African smallholders and agents in the field and operates as a public good throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Cabo Verde13 Sep 2026
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