Accra, Ghana, 3 November 2026 (ECA) – The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) inaugurated its first-ever Innovation Café at the 15th Africa Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF), bringing together five African-led Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled innovations and a multidisciplinary panel of experts to assess their potential, provide targeted feedback and identify pathways for further development and scaling.
Organized by ECA through the Africa IGF Secretariat, in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Research ICT Africa (RIA), the inaugural Café was held under the theme “Advancing Sustainable Development Through African AI Solutions.” It formed part of the AfIGF 2026, which took place in Accra from 2 to 5 November 2026, at Labadi Beach Hotel.
Opening the session, Robert Lisinge, Director of ECA’s Technology, Innovation, Connectivity and Infrastructure Division, emphasized the importance of strengthening Africa’s capacity to develop and scale locally relevant technological solutions.
“For ECA, today’s Innovation Café is more than a showcase. It is part of a broader programme connecting African innovation with sustainable development. It provides a space to share practical solutions, discuss policy and investment needs, and build partnerships that turn Africa’s ideas into tangible development outcomes,” he said.
The five innovators, selected from 835 applications received from across Africa, presented their solutions, outlining their development, potential impact, business models, approaches to responsible AI and opportunities for partnership and growth.
Drawing on expertise in engineering, intelligent systems, entrepreneurship, innovation ecosystems and responsible AI governance, a multidisciplinary panel of experts subsequently provided technical, commercial and policy-focused feedback to help strengthen the innovations and their readiness for implementation and scale.
The experts highlighted the importance of high-quality and representative data, rigorous testing and validation of AI models, and business models that respond to African market realities, including connectivity limitations, infrastructure and computing costs, affordability and regulatory requirements.
Particular attention was given to responsible AI, inclusion and the requirements for scaling solutions across different African markets. The experts stressed the need to integrate data protection, cybersecurity, regulatory compliance and human oversight from the outset, particularly in sensitive sectors such as healthcare, finance, energy and public infrastructure. They also emphasized the importance of designing solutions that remain accessible to underserved communities, including rural populations and users with limited connectivity, access to digital devices or digital literacy.
Moderating the Innovation Café, Mactar Seck, ECA Chief of Emerging, and Frontier Technologies, Innovation and Digital Transformation, underscored the importance of continued collaboration in strengthening African innovations and supporting their development and scaling
“The Innovation Café is an opportunity for innovators to refine their solutions, build meaningful collaborations and learn from one another. The next step is to translate the feedback received here into stronger, more scalable solutions that can deliver real impact across Africa,” Seck said.
The inaugural Innovation Café therefore concluded not simply as a showcase of five promising technologies, but as a platform for technical expert feedback, peer learning, partnership-building and continued engagement aimed at helping African-led innovations move towards practical application and scale.
The five innovations showcased at the inaugural Innovation Café were:
-
AgricFresh – Presented by Mr. Afopezi Moses from Cameroon: An AI-enabled market-linkage platform combined with solar-powered cold storage to reduce post-harvest losses, extend the shelf life of perishable produce and connect smallholder farmers with potential buyers.
-
AI Barabara – Presented by Dr. John Mwangi Wandeto from Kenya: An AI-powered road assessment and project decision-support solution that uses road imagery to assess road conditions and support decisions on the economic feasibility of road maintenance and rehabilitation.
-
CoreHealth – Presented by Mr. Ibrahim Akorede Jimoh from Nigeria: An AI-powered healthcare management ecosystem integrating electronic medical records, clinical documentation, pharmacy, laboratory and other healthcare workflows, including AI-assisted clinical dictation and summarization.
-
DevisionX – Presented by Mr. Mahmoud AbdelAziz from Egypt: A sovereign AI platform combining computer vision, multimodal document intelligence and AI-enabled workflow automation for secure deployment in government, finance, justice and other highly regulated sectors.
-
SolarShare – Presented by Ms. Nolwazi Siphesihle Dlamini from Eswatini: An AI-enabled community energy platform for monitoring solar systems, matching surplus energy with local demand and supporting coordinated energy sharing and management. The solution is currently at the prototype stage, with live energy-data integration and physical energy-sharing arrangements envisaged as subsequent development steps.
The multidisciplinary panel of experts comprised:
-
Ms. Diana Kemunto Nyakundi, AI Fellow and Researcher, Research ICT Africa;
-
Dr. Edwell Gumbo, Director of Entrepreneurship, Universities South Africa (USAf);
-
Dr Lebsework Negash, Assistant Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Chair, Control Engineering; Director, AAU STARTUPS; College of Technology and Built Environment (formerly AaiT), Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopia;
-
Prof. Paul Ndirangu Kioni, Ag. Head, Research-Innovation Ecosystems and Entrepreneurship Education Office, Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT), Kenya;
Watch the full session here:https://www.youtube.com/live/AgETKo9wLoE
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org
