HAIDI and ADDN Launch to Support Disabled Africans

Over 100 million Africans live with disabilities, yet local sign languages, speech accents, and street layouts are largely absent from global AI models. Francis Elendu, a secondary school teacher in Enugu, Nigeria, utilizes a guide cane and apps like Envision AI and Seeing AI for navigation, but these technologies often fail to accurately interpret the local environment.

According to the World Health Organisation's 2022 Global Report, more than 1 in 8 individuals in the African Region have significant disabilities. A 2025 study commissioned by Artificial Intelligence for Development (AI4D) revealed that persons with disabilities are underrepresented in datasets used to train AI systems, with existing data being fragmented.

To combat this issue, the Hub for AI and Disability Inclusion (HAIDI) and the African Disability Data Network (ADDN) have been established to enhance the data infrastructure necessary for inclusion.