Health · Patent TZ/P/2026/000124
Maternal-AI
Flags maternal, perinatal and child health risks early, in a country with one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates.
African Artificial Intelligence Lab · UDOM × NM-AIST
AI by Africans, with Africans, for Africa.
We are a multidisciplinary research lab in Tanzania turning AI research into tools that work where they are needed — in clinics, on farms and in public institutions — and protecting them as African innovations.
- 4
- AI patents registered in Tanzania in 2026
- 20
- hospitals took part in validating our pharmacovigilance AI
- 24
- countries represented at AAIAC 2026, our international conference
- 195
- secondary school teachers from 13 regions introduced to AI
From problem to patent
How a real problem becomes an African innovation
Our pharmacovigilance system, built with the Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority (TMDA), shows the path every Lab project follows.
- 01
Problem
Adverse drug reactions need expert investigation
Every suspected reaction must be investigated and its cause assessed — specialist work that is scarce in low-resource health settings.
- 02
Co-design
Mapped with the regulator
Working with TMDA, we turned the case-investigation workflow into two modules: investigation & diagnosis, and causality assessment.
- 03
Build
Deployed on our own GPUs
Module 1 runs on AfriAI Lab infrastructure, retrieving Brighton Collaboration definitions and medical literature for each case.
- 04
Validate
40 participants, 20 hospitals
On 19 May 2026, participants from Tanzanian hospitals tested case processing, retrieval, diagnostic support and response times.
- 05
Protect
Patent TZ/P/2026/000148
Registered in Tanzania in 2026. Next: the causality module and a field pilot in Phase II.
Our work
Built for problems we can name
Each tool starts from a documented gap in Tanzanian health or agriculture — and is tested with the people who will use it.
Health · Patent TZ/P/2026/000125
AKILI CHECK
Mental-health screening and decision support where there is less than one psychiatrist per 1.6 million people.
Environment · Patent TZ/P/2026/000196
Forecasting livestock emissions
Forecasts greenhouse gas emissions from ruminants — with uncertainty quantification, so farmers and planners know how far to trust each forecast.
Agriculture
TokomezaPPR
Predicts Peste des Petits Ruminants in goats and sheep, built with veterinary experts and presented at the AI4D workshop in Cape Town.
Agriculture · with AGCOT
AI soybean farm management
Yield estimation and farm advice powered by Gemma 3n, tested for reasoning in Kiswahili and reviewed by the Tanzania Sustainable Soybean Initiative.
Health
ASDR-AI
Screens retinal images for diabetic retinopathy — Tanzania has 69 ophthalmologists for more than 60 million people.
Innovation & IP
Four AI patents, registered in Tanzania
Protecting what we build is how research becomes products, partnerships and African-owned technology.
TZ/P/2026/000124
Systems and Methods for an AI-Powered Tool for Addressing Maternal Complications
Inventors: To be confirmed
TZ/P/2026/000125
System and Method for AI-Powered Mental Health Assessment, Screening, and Clinical Decision Support in Low-Resource Healthcare Settings
Inventors: To be confirmed
TZ/P/2026/000148
System and Method for AI-Powered Pharmacovigilance, Adverse-Event Detection, and Clinical Decision Support in Low-Resource Healthcare Settings
Inventors: To be confirmed
TZ/P/2026/000196
A System and Method for Forecasting Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ruminants
Inventors: To be confirmed
TZ/P/2026/——
Additional patent — title to be confirmed
Inventors: To be confirmed
Published in the Official Journal of Patents, Trade and Service Marks for Tanzania Mainland, 2026. Innovation & IP
Research
Two units, four commitments
Healthcare Unit
Disease prediction, diagnosis, risk assessment and health-data management — from maternal health to pharmacovigilance.
Agriculture Unit
Crop and livestock production: disease detection, yield prediction, dairy productivity and farm advisory systems.
Data & compute
Representative African datasets and shared GPU infrastructure — 16 researchers used Lab computing this year.
Responsible & inclusive AI
Fairness, privacy and accountability across the AI lifecycle, with women, youth and persons with disabilities at the centre.
Tanzania Secondary Schools AI Conference (TSS-AIC), July 2026
Capacity building
Growing Africa’s AI talent
- 6
Postgraduate scholars
Two PhD and four MSc researchers, split equally between UDOM and NM-AIST and between women and men.
- 150+
Workshop participants
An AI technical workshop at Ruaha Catholic University in Iringa for 114 students and 36 staff.
- 3
Short courses
AI for Beginners, AI in Healthcare and AI for Executives — practical training for professionals.
AAIAC 2026 · 22–23 July · Dar es Salaam
Africa’s AI researchers, in one room
The 2nd International Conference on the Advancements of AI in the African Context, opened by the Minister for Education, Science and Technology, in partnership with IEEE Tanzania.
- 200+
- participants
- 24
- countries
- 45
- papers accepted
Policy & ecosystem
Helping shape how Africa governs AI
01
Tanzania’s AI Node
UDOM, through AfriAI Lab, was selected as Tanzania’s node in the EAC Regional AI Network of Universities (July 2026).
02
Africa AI Council
Lab members serve on thematic groups for AI Governance & Ethics, AI Talent & Skills, and AI Data Ecosystems.
03
Global voice
Our PI was an ITU-sponsored AI for Good Scholar at the 2026 AI for Good Global Summit.
Research output
Latest publications
- 2026
A deterministic mathematical model for the transmission dynamics of Fusarium wilt of banana in a plantation system
- 2026
Gated recurrent unit model for forecasting greenhouse gas concentrations with uncertainty quantification
- 2026
On the use of synthetic data for healthcare AI in Africa: Technical performance, governance challenges, and policy readiness
- 2026
Farm-level yield prediction for maize, rice, and beans in Tanzania using machine learning and multi-source agricultural data
News
From the Lab
Partnerships ·
At the AI4D Partners' Meeting, the Lab argues for African data sovereignty
PI Dr. Gloriana Monko joined AI researchers and funders in Mombasa to discuss data ownership, responsible scaling and turning research into sustainable products.
Outreach ·
195 secondary school teachers from 13 regions introduced to AI
During the UCSAF teacher training (5–9 October), the Lab covered AI fundamentals, prompt engineering and responsible use of generative AI with teachers from Arusha to Tabora.
Recognition ·
UDOM selected as Tanzania's AI Node in the EAC Regional AI Network
Through AfriAI Lab, UDOM will support AI curriculum, joint research and researcher mobility across the East African Community, under IUCEA, EASTECO and the EAC AI Alliance.
People
The researchers behind the work
Prof. Shubi Kaijage
Mr. Salim Diwani
Dr. Tabu S. Kondo
Dr. Judith Leo
Dr. Jabhera Matogoro
Dr. Neema Mduma
Dr. Mohamedi Mjahidi
Dr. Goodiel Moshi
Dr. Noe Elisa Nnko
Dr. Ally Seleman NyamaweGet involved
Build the future of African AI with us
Partners & industry
Co-develop and scale
Bring a real problem. We co-create, pilot and scale AI solutions with government, industry and civil society.
Start a partnershipStudents & researchers
Study and research
Scholarships, supervision, exchanges across the AI4D network and access to our GPU infrastructure.
See opportunitiesInnovators
Turn your idea into a product
Seed funding, mentorship and IP support for AI innovators building for African markets.
Join the AI Innovators programme