ADQ and the Gates Foundation have announced a landmark partnership aimed at accelerating the responsible, high-impact adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and education technology (EdTech) to strengthen learning outcomes for children across sub-Saharan Africa. The announcement was made on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi Finance Week, during a visit to the UAE by Bill Gates, Chair of the Gates Foundation.
The partnership reflects a growing recognition that digital learning platforms, data systems, and AI-enabled tools are becoming a core pillar of national infrastructure. Much like transport, energy, and logistics networks enable economic activity, education technology is increasingly viewed as essential to building human capital, improving productivity, and enhancing long-term competitiveness. For ADQ, the initiative complements its investments across physical and digital assets by supporting the systems that will underpin future economies.
The urgency is clear. By 2050, Africa is expected to be home to one in three of the world’s young people, yet learning outcomes remain a critical challenge. Today, nine in ten children in the region cannot read or do basic maths by the age of 10. The partnership will focus on scalable solutions that respond to local needs, support teachers, and strengthen foundational literacy and numeracy—skills widely regarded as the building blocks for long-term educational and economic progress.
Over four years, the partnership will deploy a combined US$40 million, with ADQ contributing up to US$20 million, through two flagship programmes designed to expand ethical AI use in education. The first is AI-for-Education, a global initiative launched in 2022 that develops practical AI-enabled learning models and provides guidance to governments across the Global South. The second is the EdTech and AI Fund, a new multi-investor vehicle set to launch next year, which will scale proven AI and EdTech interventions across sub-Saharan Africa. Jointly anchored by ADQ and the Gates Foundation, the fund is positioned as the first dedicated to national-level scale-up of solutions demonstrated to improve foundational learning.
Despite the promise of AI—particularly generative AI—the sector faces persistent constraints. Evidence on what works remains limited, underfunding continues, and adoption is low. Data cited in the announcement highlights that more than 93% of EdTech products in low- and middle-income countries are not tested for proof-of-learning impact, while sub-Saharan Africa attracts just 2% of global EdTech venture capital. Only 4% of children in the region consistently use EdTech.
The initiative builds on the Gates Foundation’s broader momentum in education investment. Earlier this year, the foundation announced a US$240 million expansion of its Global Education Program—an effort designed to help 15 million children in sub-Saharan Africa and India learn more effectively through cost-efficient, evidence-based solutions delivered with governments. The new ADQ partnership aligns with that strategy, while leveraging the UAE’s growing capabilities in innovation, deployment, and technology scaling.
His Excellency Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Managing Director and Group CEO of ADQ, said the partnership reflects the UAE’s commitment to advancing AI and technology-enabled solutions, and ADQ’s focus on creating meaningful impact globally. “As a responsible investor, we have focused on enabling the infrastructure that supports socio-economic development and creating pathways for inclusive growth,” he said, adding that learning systems, data, and intelligent technologies are becoming as vital as physical assets for national development.
Bill Gates said AI has “enormous potential to transform learning and expand opportunity,” highlighting that the collaboration is designed to apply these tools responsibly while scaling approaches already showing results. He also pointed to the UAE’s role in using innovation to expand opportunity, saying the partnership aims to help more children build the foundational skills that shape their futures.
With education reform gaining momentum across Africa—including commitments made at the 2025 African Union Summit to end learning poverty by 2035—the partners say the conditions for meaningful progress are strengthening. By aligning capital, policy support, and scalable technologies with classroom realities, the partnership aims to accelerate learning gains and contribute to a more inclusive and prosperous future for the continent’s next generation.
