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The Role of Generative AI in Addressing Development Challenges in LMICs

AI and Inclusive & Sustainable Development
Fola Adeleke
Leah Junck
Ayantola Alayande
Samuel Segun
Aarushi Gupta
Urvashi Aneja
Joao Victor Archegas
Mark Gaffley
Rachel Adams
Authors
Fola Adeleke, Leah Junck, Ayantola Alayande, Samuel Segun, Rosalind Parkes-Ratanshi, Aarushi Gupta, Urvashi Aneja, Joao Victor Archegas, Scott Mahoney, Mark Gaffley and Rachel Adams
Published May 14, 2026
Access the full report here

Background

In late 2022, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, igniting a global boom around generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Governments, businesses and individuals began to rapidly incorporate these powerful technologies intoeveryday processes and tasks, heralding a new era of technology use, most notably in wealthy nations. Questions remain about what value these technologies may have for addressing intractable socio-economic challenges facing lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the benefits they offer are needed the most.To begin to answer these questions, the Gates Foundation launched the Global Grand Challenges program on “Catalyzing Equitable Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use” to explore the potential of GenAI technologies to help solve some of the world’s greatest problems. The Grand Challenges program awarded a total of over US$7.5 million to 50 projects based in LMICs across Africa, Asia and South America.A Network of Experts, led by the South Africa-based Global Center on AI Governance, was appointed to support projects in strengthening theethical and gender-transformational components of their work and in generating evidence about the potential of GenAI to address socio-economicchallenges in LMIC contexts. This report summarizes key learnings, insights and recommendations from the experts.

Report Objectives

Based on insights garnered from the Experts’ support of the Grand Challenges awardees, this report sets out to respond to the following questions:1. Do GenAI technologies have utility for addressing socio-economic challenges in LMICs? What evidence do we have to support this?2. Are GenAI technologies safe to use in LMIC contexts?3. What are the barriers to using GenAI technologies safely, equitably and inclusively to address major socio-economic challenges in LMICs?

The key takeaways from the report are:

  • Strong Potential for Social Impact: Projects demonstrated how GenAI can improve access to healthcare, education, agriculture, financial services, and gender-inclusive support, particularly for underserved and low-literacy communities through multilingual and speech-enabled tools.
  • Major Structural and Ethical Challenges: Limited compute infrastructure, lack of high-quality local datasets, low-resourced languages, privacy concerns, and weak governance frameworks remain significant barriers to responsible and equitable AI deployment in LMICs.
  • Importance of Localized and Human-Centered Design: Successful projects relied heavily on local expertise, continuous user feedback, multidisciplinary collaboration, and culturally relevant design to improve accuracy, trust, and inclusivity.
  • Need for Long-Term Investment and Governance: The report emphasizes that scaling responsible AI in LMICs will require sustained investment in local AI ecosystems, ethical oversight, low-resourced language development, and partnerships between governments, innovators, donors, and communities.
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