Flagship Projects

The AI4GH initiative supports robust, innovative and interdisciplinary research projects and processes across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa. Each activity within AI4GH promotes ‘responsible AI’ (solutions that are ethical, inclusive, rights-respecting and sustainable) that aims to strengthen gender equality and inclusion, and integrate plans for sustainability, scale and influence. This initiative aims to build regional and global networks across a range of actors, including researchers, policymakers, practitioners, the private sector and civil society.

This flagship initiative will create high‑quality, open‑source, culturally grounded multimodal datasets—spanning text, speech and vision—across 40 African languages. By anchoring this work in the Masakhane community, a grassroots, expert-led organization that champions participatory methods, the project aims to shift Africa from being a data-poor consumer of AI technologies to a globally recognized contributor to ethical and inclusive AI innovation. Emerging from the AI for Development Funders Collaborative, it represents a cross-donor effort, with parallel funding from IDRC, the UK’s FCDO, the Gates Foundation, and Google.org.

Responsible AI can tackle Africa’s development challenges, but scaling real-world solutions is critical. This project establishes a lab to guide scaling efforts, mentor innovators, and develop use cases, enhancing collaboration and advancing an inclusive AI ecosystem across the continent.

The Global Index on Responsible AI offers a comprehensive benchmark of countries' commitment to responsible AI, specifically ensuring human rights protections. This project will track emerging trends over time, amplify marginalised voices and provide actionable recommendations to policymakers to align technological advancements with ethical principles and societal wellbeing.

The AI Network of Labs, supported by the AI for Development (AI4D) initiative, connects research and innovation laboratories across Africa to advance responsible, locally relevant artificial intelligence. Operating in multiple countries, the network addresses key development challenges across sectors such as health, agriculture, education, climate, language technologies, and AI governance, while strengthening local capacity and collaboration.

Born out of the AI for Development Funders’ Collaborative, the AI Evidence Alliance for Social Impact is the first phase of a broader collaboration among global funders focused on advancing AI evaluation. It represents a cross-donor effort, co-financed by IDRC, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Community Jameel, and Google.org.