The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is inviting proposals under its EthiopiAI Programme, which aims to fund AI automation and optimisation solutions in Ethiopia. The target sectors include health, education, humanitarian response, economic development, and climate action. Alongside deploying AI solutions, the programme seeks to build technical capacity within public sector systems and improve policy/regulation around responsible AI.
Organisations Eligible
- Legally registered organisations or consortia.
- Non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
- UK-based non-profit organisations.
- For-profit organisations are not eligible.
- Capabilities required: Applicants need to demonstrate relevant expertise and capacity to work with policy makers in Ethiopia.
Proposal must include
- Approach & methodology for developing, implementing, and deploying AI applications in chosen priority sectors.
- Team composition, skills, experience.
- Capacity building plan (training, tools).
- Policy engagement strategy: how you'll engage with Ethiopia’s public institutions, ethical / regulatory frameworks.
- Partnerships locally (government bodies, institutions, NGOs).
- Work plan, timeline, outputs & outcome indicators, risk assessment & mitigation, budget breakdown.
Benefits
- Funding: Large grants (value “more than £1,000,000” expected in total funding) for implementing AI‐based solutions.
- Positive social impact: Improving essential public services (health, education, etc.), better livelihoods, adaptation to climate challenges.
- Capacity building: Skills, tools, technical assistance so that government and civil service actors in Ethiopia can sustain and scale AI solutions.
- Policy & regulatory gains: Support for ethical, responsible AI governance; consultations that could help shape regulation so innovation doesn’t cause harm.
