The future of digital health isn’t just about technology. It’s about getting the balance right.
Whether it’s between innovation and existing systems, conventional frameworks and disruptive ideas. Between the speed of AI advancements and the discipline of strong governance.
That balance, and how we can come together to achieve it, was the heartbeat of the 2025 African HealthTech Summit (AHTS), where over 3,000 delegates from 85 countries gathered in Kigali to explore how digital tools can help Africa reach health for all in the digital age.
It’s not surprising that it was a new, blended expression that came to define those three days, as well as what’s to come: ‘collabor-action’, or collaboration in action.
1. Data is critical… but only if it’s high-quality, trusted, and used.
“Data is oxygen that sustains every health system,” said Dr. Raji Tajudeen, Deputy Director General of Africa CDC, opening the summit with a challenge: to move from data collection to data use.
Across panels and keynotes, participants echoed a hard truth: Africa isn’t short of health data, but isn’t taking full advantage of what it has, either.
Rwanda’s National Health Intelligence Centre, for example, uses AI and smart analytics to transform raw information into actionable insights for maternal and child health. Yet, as Sylvere Mugumya from Rwanda’s Ministry of Health warned, “We’re only using about 5% of the health data we have.”
Speakers agreed that data governance must enable, not hinder, innovation. Senegal’s Dr. Ibrahima Khaliloulah Dia and Professor Diana Nsubuga from TIP Global noted that good, clean data comes from communities understanding and trusting its importance.
Data also took center stage at Medic’s joint session with Vital Wave, where we were joined by Dr. Novat Twungubumwe from the East African Health Research Commission and Africa CDC’s Dr. Kokou Alinon. We spotlighted how health security begins at the community level and how data, trust, and interoperability are essential to making homegrown digital health systems work for everyone.
“Our approach is geared towards building local capacity to ensure solutions are sustainable,” Derick Lung’aho, Medic’s Chief Program Officer, explained. “You can innovate, but if it is not founded on the vision of the Ministry of Health, it will not be implemented successfully.”
In developing the Community Health Toolkit, Medic has seen firsthand the difference data makes in allocating resources and informing community care. In August, our senior leaders Jeff Jacobs and Nekesa Were shared these insights to help inform Community Health Impact Coalition’s guide for funders on CHW data best practice.
As Transform Health’s Mathilde Forslund made clear at AHTS, “data is power”… but “it needs to be translated into action,” clarified Dr. Brenda Kateera, Country Director at Clinton Health Access Initiative.
2. Young people can unlock Africa’s digital health future… but only with the right skills and support.
With 70% of Africa’s population under 30, the continent’s youth are already shaping its health future. “Young people are not the leaders of tomorrow. They’re the change-makers of today,” said Ntwali Ivan of the Mastercard Foundation.
Philip Cotton from the University of Global Health Equity agreed: “Students come on an almost weekly basis to our offices and say, ‘look what I’ve built.’”
But for this demographic dividend to deliver, countries need to invest in digital health skills and capacity-building. The continent faces a shortage of six million health workers by 2030, and digital tools will only be effective if there’s a trained workforce to use them.
As Alice Nsengiyumva put it, “Now is the time to involve community health workers in building digital solutions — not just using them.”
3. Governance is essential… but it mustn’t become a barrier to innovation.
“Africa is a continent of innovation. We don’t say it enough,” said Dr Landry Tsague of Africa CDC.
Throughout AHTS, leaders emphasized that strong data governance is non-negotiable, but it should foster – not limit – innovation.
“As policymakers we must make sure we do not block our young innovators,” advised Rwanda’s Minister of Health, Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana.
“Africa can’t afford to repeat 20 years of fragmented digitization,” warned Johns Hopkins’ Dr. Smisha Agarwal. “AI brings enormous potential, but without the right guidance, it can also bring enormous risk. We need the right roads to run on: governance, legislation, and operational frameworks.”
Speakers from the European Union and the African Union both underscored this balance. As EU Ambassador tovRwanda Belen Calvo Uyarra put it, “Technology alone is not the answer — but in an ecosystem where we combine innovation with good governance and strong skills, it can transform health for all.”
4. AI is powerful… but it must serve people.
From community clinics to pharmacies, AI was one of the hottest topics of AHTS 2025.
“We don’t want to just be a consumer of AI,” said Dr. Muhammed Semakula, Rwandan Ministry of Health. “We also want to also produce and develop AI.”
AI can “democratize expertise” and “put a doctor in your pocket,” as the Gates Foundation’s Melissa Miles described, by providing diagnostic support in remote areas, improving accuracy, and helping community health workers (CHWs) reach more people faster.
But with that promise came a recurring warning: AI is only as good as the data and systems behind it. “Garbage in, garbage out,” said Eric Angula from Causal Foundry. “AI is not meant to replace health workers, it’s meant to augment the work that they do. We need to design systems with users in mind, so AI produces the insights we actually need.”
At Medic, we believe that every community, regardless of technical resources, can design and sustain its own digital health systems, creating generational shifts in autonomy and equity.
That’s why, with the support of Gates Foundation, Medic has teamed up with Audere and ministries of health to co-build AI-powered malaria diagnostics with CHWs in Kenya and Uganda.
5. Collaboration is the catalyst… but only if it’s grounded in local ownership.
From the private sector to policy-makers, funders, and community health workers, collaboration emerged as Africa’s superpower.
Medic has long known that if CHWs are fully elevated, if local voices are heard, if everyone has the opportunity to contribute, then together we can accelerate health for everyone, everywhere, which is why the CHT is fully open and community-led.
As Jean-Philbert Nsengimana of Africa CDC reflected, “We can go fast and far together by joining hands — and most importantly, by using technology that belongs to us.”
That spirit of ‘collabor-action’ is already reshaping how health data, AI, and local systems work together. Rwanda’s success in building a smart health intelligence system shows what’s possible when data is shared responsibly, young innovators are empowered, and digital transformation is anchored in trust.
The takeaway?
Innovation needs governance. Governance needs trust. And trust is built through collabor-action.
Nnenna Nwakanma, a senior advisor at Transform Health, didn’t hesitate when she set out what we needed to get there: “Talk is cheap. Action is expensive. We need financing.”
Africa’s digital health future is about bringing everyone to the table to build resilient, inclusive systems that put communities, not code, at the center.