Artificial Intelligence for Development programme announces new four-year pan-African research initiative

Wednesday 16 September 2026

The Artificial Intelligence for Development programme, jointly supported by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Global Research and Technology Development portfolio, launches a new pan-African research initiative called the African Growth and AI Network (AGAIN). Bringing together researchers and institutions based across multiple African countries, including South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, and Ghana, AGAIN will generate evidence on how AI is affecting labour markets, productivity, and economic inclusion across the continent, with a particular focus on the experiences of informal workers, women, young people, and other groups who may experience these changes differently.

Santiago Alba Corral, Vice President of Programs and Partnerships, IDRC, said:

“Many of the most important questions about AI are still being answered with speculation rather than evidence. At IDRC, we know that evidence and research must be the foundation of any major social or technological transformation. AGAIN will generate the data, methods, and insights needed to understand how AI is reshaping work, productivity, and opportunity across Africa, and for whom, while building the foundation for a broader global understanding of AI’s impact on economies, livelihoods, and inclusive development.”

Find out more about the African Growth and AI Network

AGAIN has been announced as part of the London School of Economics and Political Science’s 2026 Global Forum for AI and the Social Sciences. To build momentum and unlock new forms of coordinated and collective action, selected organisations from around the world have been invited to use the Global Forum as a platform for releasing work, launching new initiatives, or making commitments related to the Forum's annual focus.

Statement from Artificial Intelligence for Development founding donor, IDRC:

As AI is expected to reshape how businesses operate, governments worldwide are grappling with how to keep pace with technological changes and respond. Policy debates span laissez-faire regulation and voluntary commitments, strategic investment, AI skills development, universal basic income, and consumer and labour protections amongst others. Yet these debates lack the grounded evidence on employment, productivity, inequality, and economic growth needed to guide decision-making, particularly in Africa and across the Global South.

This new pan-African research initiative will generate evidence on how AI is affecting labour markets, productivity and economic inclusion, reflecting the realities of local communities and economies. By bringing together leading researchers and institutions based in Africa, the research will pay particular attention to the experiences of informal workers, women, youth and other groups who may experience these changes differently.

A key objective of AGAIN is to strengthen the evidence base available to African policymakers. Current debates about AI often rely on findings from high-income countries, despite the fact that African economies have distinct labour market structures, levels of digitalisation, and innovation ecosystems. AGAIN seeks to fill this gap by generating comparable data and analysis across multiple African countries, including South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana, enabling researchers and decision-makers to better understand who is adopting AI in Africa, how they are using it, what difference it makes, and how the benefits and risks of AI are distributed across different communities. This new data will provide much-needed insights into how AI is reshaping work, productivity, and economic opportunity across African economies. In turn, it will help policymakers develop AI strategies and policy responses grounded in evidence about AI's economic and labour market impacts, supporting its responsible deployment for the public good.

At a time when governments, businesses and development organisations are making important decisions about AI investments and regulation, AGAIN fills a critical gap to equip African countries with the evidence needed to make decisions that reflect their own priorities and realities. AGAIN has been created to take the first steps toward connecting with research initiatives in other regions, including Latin America and Asia, and build a genuinely global understanding of how AI is transforming economies, work and livelihoods while addressing emerging risks and promoting equitable outcomes.

About Artificial Intelligence for Development

Artificial Intelligence for Development (AI4D) is a programme that aims to foster safe, inclusive and responsible AI ecosystems that empower people and accelerate progress on challenges in international development. AI4D supports responsible AI ecosystems where experts in developing countries are enabled to develop their own solutions to development challenges and mitigate AI risks through safe, inclusive, rights-based and sustainable AI applications and policies.

Launched initially as ‘AI4D Africa’ in 2020 with Swedish SIDA, the first phase of the programme laid a solid foundation by supporting responsible AI policies, multidisciplinary research, and innovative projects across the African continent. Building on this success, AI4D entered its second phase in 2024, with a broadened scope that now spans Africa and Asia, supported by a partnership between the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and additional funding from Swedish SIDA.

About the Global Forum for AI and the Social Sciences

The Global Forum for AI and the Social Sciences is an annual flagship event bringing together leaders across government, industry, academia, and civil society from around the world. Organised by the LSE Data Science Institute, the Global Forum aims to convene international dialogue at the intersection of AI and the social sciences and to mobilise expertise, resources, and partnerships to ensure AI serves human and societal needs.

The inaugural edition of the Global Forum will take place on 16 and 17 September 2026 with a thematic focus on how AI is reshaping work and what governments, firms, and workers must do to prepare for the changes ahead.