JOHANNESBURG—October 8, 2026—Artificial intelligence (AI) is creating new possibilities for nonprofits across Africa to expand access to services, strengthen programme delivery, and address challenges in areas ranging from health and education to livelihoods and agriculture. A new report from The Bridgespan Group examines how African nonprofits are beginning to use artificial intelligence to advance their missions—and offers a practical roadmap for organisations considering whether, where, and how AI could help.

“The question for nonprofits isn't ‘how do we use more AI?’ but ‘what problem are we solving, and is AI the right way to solve it?’ This involves looking beyond the technology to the organisation's data, people, governance, as well as the communities at the centre,” said Madhuri Mukherjee, Bridgespan partner and co-author of the research. “That's how adoption becomes responsible, helping nonprofits reach more people and deepen impact.”

"Pursuing the Promise of AI: A Guide for African Nonprofits to Advance Their Missions" draws on interviews and discussions with more than 40 nonprofits and social enterprises, funders, experts, and intermediaries across Africa working on issues such as education, health, and livelihoods. The research examines how organisations have approached AI—from identifying a problem and testing a use case to embedding it in programmes and, in some cases, beginning to consider scale. It also explores the strategic and organisational choices nonprofits encounter along the way.

Although nearly all interviewees recognised AI’s potential, relatively few nonprofits reported using it directly in programmes or services. Many were already using AI for day-to-day productivity, an important starting point. The report focuses instead on “mission-driven AI”: applications that directly strengthen, scale, or create programmes and services.

While adoption paths vary, the research identifies four stages in the journey towards mission-driven AI:

• Stage 1: Explore & prepare: Organisations move from general interest in AI to considering whether and how to use it to advance their missions. Key questions surround the problem being solved, whether AI is the right tool to address it, and assessing if the necessary data, language layer, and organisational readiness are in place.
• Stage 2: Prove & learn: Organisations pilot a specific use case to understand whether it works in real-world conditions and merits further investment. This also includes decisions to build, buy, adapt, or partner—and defining what success looks like.
• Stage 3: Embed & operate: If a pilot shows promise, organisations begin integrating it into regular programme delivery. At this stage, organisations consider shifts in internal structure—governance, talent, operating models, and long-term costs—to ensure it can be effectively sustained.
• Stage 4: Sustain or scale: Organisations consider whether and how the use case should continue or expand—to more users or geographies, through public systems, or through other ecosystem actors—and what it will take to sustain it over time. The report also emphasises maintaining the status quo or reassessing a use case as appropriate outcomes.

“The aim of our research is not to advocate for mission-driven AI adoption as an end goal for African nonprofits,” said Bridgespan principal and report co-author Aditi Sharma. “It is to help organisations make informed choices about where AI can genuinely advance their missions. The next few years present an important opportunity to shape how AI is used across the continent—and to ensure it is grounded in real needs, local contexts, and meaningful impact.”

Read the full report: https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/choosing-your-ai-path-a-framework-for-nonprofit-leaders-to-make-strategic-choices

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