Afrique Center for Statistics, Artificial Intelligence & Innovation Research (ACSAIR)
ACSAIR was founded on the principle that Africans should have full ownership of their digital future and be the prime innovators of solutions to the continent’s challenges. As the fast-growing research center in Africa, our mission is to catalyze African-led research and innovation in statistics, artificial intelligence and related technologies.
We aim to reimagine how innovation, data and AI can work for Africa, rather than simply adopting off-the-shelf approaches. This means focusing on local contexts – from indigenous languages and cultural nuances to on-the-ground development needs and ensuring that technological advancements align with Africa’s diverse values and realities. ACSAIR addresses the current gaps in the ecosystem: the underrepresentation of African perspectives in research, AI development, fragmented networks that limit collaboration and an innovation gap where solutions are too often developed elsewhere for Africa rather than by Africa.
Our Vision & Mission
Our vision is an Africa where data-driven decision-making and homegrown innovations drive equitable development and improve lives.
Our mission is to conduct world-class research and deliver practical solutions that solve complex problems, strengthen institutions, and inspire a new generation of African tech leaders. To achieve this, we blend a formal, technical approach with an inclusive and accessible ethos.
Our researchers publish in academic journals and produce rigorous analyses, but we also ensure our findings are communicated in plain language to policymakers and communities. We uphold the highest standards of integrity, ethics, and excellence – from ensuring data privacy and statistical accuracy in our projects to fostering an internal culture of accountability and learning.
ACSAIR’s Core Values
Our core values center on innovation, impact and collaboration. We pursue innovation not as an end in itself, but as a means to address socio-economic, environmental and governance challenges facing African societies. We measure success by the impact our work has on the ground: a new startup or tool improving healthcare delivery, a policy recommendation leading to better services or a trainee who goes on to launch a successful startup.
We also know that we cannot work in isolation. Thus, partnership is embedded in our DNA. We convene experts across disciplines and borders and we work closely with government ministries, universities, civil society and international agencies to ensure our initiatives are well-rounded and sustainable. Importantly, ACSAIR strives to bridge the digital divide and ensure technology benefits everyone.
We seek to promote inclusive economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction through our programs, aligning with Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. ACSAIR is a trusted hub where African policymakers, tech experts and researchers come together with a shared goal: to unlock the power of data, innovation and AI for the public good.
Our Services
ACSAIR offers a broad suite of services designed to help our stakeholders harness data and innovation effectively. We understand the needs of governments, NGOs, donor agencies and private sector partners and tailor our services to deliver actionable insights and sustainable solutions.
We design and execute scientific research projects that address real-world problems. This includes policy-oriented research as well as technical R&D. Clients and partners often engage us to conduct pilot studies or feasibility research before scaling an idea. Through our R&D services, we produce evidence and prototypes that help decision-makers choose the best paths forward.
At the heart of ACSAIR is a strong capacity in data analysis. We provide end-to-end data services – from designing surveys and data collection strategies to cleaning data, performing complex statistical analysis and producing clear visualizations. For governments and NGOs, we offer services like impact evaluations of programs, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework design, economic modeling and forecasting and predictive analytics to inform planning.
We also build custom dashboards and databases: for instance, we can develop a public health indicator dashboard for a Ministry or an interactive data portal for a development project. All our analytics services emphasize accuracy, clarity and relevance, turning raw data into actionable intelligence.
Building local capacity is a service we provide both as part of projects and as standalone offerings. We organize training workshops, seminars and hands-on bootcamps for a variety of audiences – from civil servants who need to learn data visualization, to young entrepreneurs seeking to apply machine learning, to NGO staff looking to improve their monitoring and evaluation skills.
We also run fellowship programs and mentoring schemes: for example, an agency can sponsor a cohort of its analysts to undergo our 3-month data science fellowship. Our training services are highly customizable and practical, often resulting in participants immediately applying new skills in their jobs. By focusing on topics like statistical software use, AI ethics, data engineering, innovation management, and more, we help cultivate a tech-savvy and data-literate workforce within African institutions.
We serve as strategic advisors to organizations embarking on digital transformation or data-driven initiatives. In this consulting role, ACSAIR provides guidance on developing data strategies (e.g. how a city government can use data to improve services), AI strategies (e.g. how a company could integrate AI responsibly into its operations) and innovation strategies (e.g. how a public health NGO might adopt new tech tools).
We advise policymakers on crafting policies and regulatory frameworks around emerging technologies. Additionally, we offer technical advisory services during project implementation. Our experts can be on call to troubleshoot, evaluate and ensure best practices are followed. We also conduct independent audits and evaluations of various types of projects, providing clients with an objective assessment of a project’s reported outcomes.
Going beyond advice, ACSAIR actively helps in building and deploying technology solutions. Through this service, we might work with a partner to develop a software application or to set up an innovation hub or lab. We provide technical teams that can do full-stack development, AI model training and system integration tailored to development sector needs. If an organization has a concept for a data platform or tool, we can collaborate from design through testing to launch.
Moreover, we support the localization of technology – adapting international technological tools or platforms to local languages and contexts, which is often a service needed by global tech companies or NGOs wanting to enter African markets responsibly.
By bridging the gap between idea and execution, we ensure that good innovations don’t stay on the shelf but reach the communities who need them.
Social Impact, Inclusion & Sustainability
ACSAIR is not only about tech and data – at our heart, we are about social impact. This focus area ensures that everything we do is driven by a commitment to improve lives, promote equity and support sustainable development. We intentionally apply our research and innovations to advance social justice, transparency and good governance. A key question we ask in every project is: How will this benefit the most vulnerable or underserved groups? We actively seek out projects and solutions that can empower marginalized communities, whether that’s through giving them access to information, tools to increase their income, or platforms to have their voices heard.
A major thrust for impact is directing technology to areas with direct human benefit. We pursue technology solutions for livelihoods and well-being: these include tools to improve climate resilience, solutions for food security, approaches to enhance financial inclusion, and interventions for better health outcomes. In education, we look at how innovation can widen access and quality. In infrastructure and urban planning, data can help ensure developments meet community needs sustainably. Through all these, we keep a lens on environmental sustainability, promoting green technology and ensuring our solutions themselves do not have a harmful ecological footprint.
Inclusion is another cornerstone: we work proactively to close digital divides and capacity gaps. This means whenever we deploy a solution, we consider those who might be left out. We also target special initiatives to reduce the gender gap in all spheres and programs and we also highlight inclusive innovation in a financial sense – advocating for funding and support to flow to local innovators and poorer communities, not only to well-established institutions. ACSAIR often acts as an advocate, joining our voice with others to call for more investment in African R&D, more representation of Africans in global technological, research and innovative forums and fairer policies that ensure Africa benefits from its data and innovations.
Crucially, we are champions of ethical technology and fair data use. In an era where data can be misused or technology can inadvertently harm, we raise awareness and advise on safeguards. We promote technology that respects human dignity and rights and applications that do not exploit users or communities. We support frameworks and campaigns to ensure that communities have control over their own data and that emerging technologies do not reinforce inequality but rather help to reduce it. This ethical standpoint is communicated through our training and policy work, as well as practiced in our projects.
Our approach to social impact also means aligning with broader development agendas. We explicitly aim to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – whether it’s SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) through agricultural projects, SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) via healthtech or SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, Strong Institutions) through data transparency initiatives. We also align with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which envisions “the Africa we want.” Through tying our work to these frameworks, we ensure that ACSAIR’s efforts add up to a larger cumulative impact for the continent.