Anthropic and Rwanda partner to tackle malaria and cervical cancer with AI
Anthropic has signed a three-year deal with Rwanda to deploy AI against malaria and cervical cancer. The partnership could signal a new wave of AI collaborations between African governments and global tech firms.
The Government of Rwanda has signed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Anthropic, a US AI research company behind Claude, to harness AI in public health, education, and government systems.
The agreement, which is Anthropic’s first formal multi-sector government partnership in Africa, aims to accelerate Rwanda’s national goals on health outcomes by using AI tools to support the elimination of cervical cancer, reduce malaria, improve maternal health, and enhance public services.
Under the MoU, Anthropic will provide access to its AI products (including Claude and Claude Code), hands-on training, API credits, and training for developer teams across Rwandan public institutions.
It also formalises an existing education initiative that included 2,000 Claude Pro licenses for educators, AI literacy training for public servants, and deployment of a Claude-powered learning companion (Chidi) in eight African countries.
“This partnership with Anthropic is an important milestone in Rwanda’s AI journey,” said Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s minister of information and communications technology and innovation. “The collaboration reflects Rwanda’s broader strategy to integrate AI into core national systems with an emphasis on our context.“
Rwanda already has national strategies targeting the elimination of diseases such as cervical cancer.
In 2025, Rwanda launched an accelerated plan to eliminate cervical cancer by 2027, years ahead of global targets, backed by vaccination and screening programmes.
Related Story:
Google is empowering university students in Nigeria and 4 other African countries with AI tools to build capacity and drive innovation
But gaps remain in diagnostics, data systems, and workforce capacity, areas where AI could support clinical decision-making, data analysis, and public health outreach.
AI partnerships across Africa
This isn’t the first time a global tech company has collaborated with an African government on AI readiness.
Victoria Fakiya – ...
