Smart Africa Partner and Wadhwani AI Global to Advance Responsible AI Across Africa

Wadhwani AI Global  and Smart Africa  have taken a bold new step to accelerate the development and adoption of artificial intelligence across Africa. The partnership will strengthen AI-enabled public systems across the continent and the Global South.

On the sidelines of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, Shalina Wadhwani, Co-Founder of Wadhwani AI Global, and Lacina Koné, Director General and CEO of Smart Africa, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on behalf of their respective institutions.

The collaboration reflects a shared belief: that AI can play a transformative role in public good but only when it is designed with strong institutions, local context, and long-term sustainability in mind.

A Partnership Grounded in Shared Priorities

Under this non-binding framework, Wadhwani AI Global and Smart Africa will work together to advance inclusive, context-led AI use cases across priority sectors including health, agriculture, education, financial services, government services, and climate action.

The collaboration will focus on developing and scaling AI solutions to strengthen public systems; supporting AI readiness, governance frameworks, and institutional capacity across Smart Africa Member States; establishing an AI Digital Public Goods (DPG) platform to share proven and adaptable solutions; building capacity among policymakers, technologists, and innovators; and facilitating peer-to-peer collaboration between African governments and the India AI ecosystem.

Rather than emphasizing rapid deployment, the partnership is designed to support responsible sequencing ensuring that AI systems are adopted in ways that are trusted, governable, and capable of long-term impact.

Connecting Global South Experience Through Shared Learning

Wadhwani AI Global has deployed AI solutions at scale within public systems in India that have benefited over 100 million people across education, agriculture, public health, and service delivery.

Smart Africa’s mandate is to drive Africa’s digital transformation through policy alignment, innovation, and coordinated action among its Member States.

“This partnership reflects a shared commitment to building AI that strengthens public systems rather than bypassing them. Africa and India face many of the same questions around scale, governance, and trust and this collaboration creates space for honest, peer-to-peer learning across the Global South.”
— Shalina Wadhwani, Co-Founder, Wadhwani AI Global

“Africa’s AI future will be shaped by collaboration, not imitation. This partnership with Wadhwani AI Global brings valuable experience in building AI within public systems and creates new opportunities for our Member States to learn, adapt, and lead responsibly.”
— Lacina Koné, Director General & CEO, Smart Africa

Looking Ahead

This MoU marks the beginning of a longer-term collaboration aimed at translating shared intent into tangible outcomes. Over the coming months, Wadhwani AI Global and Smart Africa will work together to identify priority opportunities, pilot collaborations, and capacity-building initiatives aligned with national and regional goals.