Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, says artificial intelligence (AI) must be designed to meet the needs of African health workers if the continent is to sustain progress and unlock economic opportunity through better healthcare systems.
Gates said this during The Future of Progress: Africa in Motion, a special Lagos forum hosted by Africa.com, where he shares the stage with Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, Governor of Gombe State, and Folly Bah Thibault, international broadcaster, who moderates the panel.
The billionaire philanthropist warns that recent health gains risk reversal without urgent investments in digital infrastructure, data systems and AI innovations tailored to the realities of African frontline workers.
“We’re in a stunning and completely unjust withdrawal of support from a number of rich governments, including the United States,” Gates says. “That puts the progress we’ve made at risk.”
“We’re in a stunning and completely unjust withdrawal of support from a number of rich governments, including the United States,” Gates says. “That puts the progress we’ve made at risk.”
Gates, whose foundation has backed major health initiatives across Africa, says AI, when shaped by local innovators, can accelerate progress by equipping health workers with the tools they need to deliver timely and effective care.
“AI is improving at the global level and is being shaped by African entrepreneurs to meet African needs,” he says. “I’m optimistic we can restore and accelerate progress by giving frontline health workers the tools they need.”
Yahaya says his administration launched GoHealth, the Gombe State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency, to reduce out-of-pocket expenses and improve access for vulnerable groups.
Gombe Governor spotlights biometric tracking and health reforms
In the same session, Governor Yahaya outlines how Gombe State deploys biometric attendance systems to tackle health worker absenteeism and underperformance across rural health centres.
“We had to be ingenious. We started using biometric machines to monitor attendance and the performance of health workers in their various locations,” Yahaya says.
The biometric reform, Yahaya explains, follows a health system overhaul driven by poor baseline indicators he inherited on assumption of office in 2019. The state’s new healthcare priorities are designed to address critical human capital gaps.
“My promises to the people were mostly tied to human capital development. We were performing very low in the indices around that,” he says.
Gombe launches GoHealth to widen care access
Yahaya says his administration launched GoHealth, the Gombe State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency, to reduce out-of-pocket expenses and improve access for vulnerable groups.
“We have about 354,000 people registered already. About 100,000 of them are the most vulnerable and displaced persons,” he says.
To close manpower gaps, the Governor says Gombe retains all 46 indigenous doctors awaiting internship placements and recruits an additional 440 Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs). The state also expands the capacity of its nursing school to accommodate 1,000 students and ensures that every ward now has at least two Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs).
Health investment yields results, Yahaya says
Governor Yahaya reports improved maternal and child health outcomes following performance tracking and sustained funding for PHCs. He says healthcare absenteeism has dropped significantly, and staff motivation has risen across the board.
“The budgetary allocation to the health sector was only about 3.5% at the inception of my government. We have now scaled this to an average of 8.5% from 2020 till now,” Yahaya says.
Gates: Health is key to economic growth
Gates closes with a call for stronger global partnerships and practical innovations that lower the cost of delivering care while meeting local realities.
“If you improve health, it actually accelerates the economic growth of the country,” Gates says. “Helping understand the unique local challenges, simplifying the systems, and bringing costs down – that’s what partnership is about.”
With African populations growing and climate-related health risks rising, both leaders say digital transformation of public health is not only desirable, but urgent.
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