Meet us in person at ICT4D Conference in Nairobi in May 20-22

In 2026, the ICT4D Conference is taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, between May 20 and 22. The MERL Tech Initiative (MTI) is attending alongside global leaders, practitioners, and innovators to explore the future of digital transformation, and we are looking forward to meeting many of you in person.

Find us at ICT4D in the following sessions:

Evaluating GenAI Challenge Funds: What are we learning about MEL design? 

May 20th, 2:40pm in Nairobi

GenAI challenge funds are popping up across the development sector. But as the money flows, a critical question is emerging: how do we actually evaluate whether any of it is working? IEEE Humanitarian Technologies, GSMA Mobile for Development, and The MERL Tech Initiative are sitting down together to compare notes on what’s actually working when it comes to evaluating GenAI grants. Which MEL frameworks hold up, which ones don’t, and where the gaps still are. Panellists are Ruth Orbach (GSMA Foundation), Mariela Machado Fantacchiotti (IEEE), Emeka Nwankwo (The MERL Tech Initiative), with facilitation by Linda Raftree.

Panel: Resourcing African Languages for NLP in MERL: Towards Realization of African Language NLP as Infrastructure for MERL

May 21st, at 10:30am in Nairobi

Natural Language Processing (NLP) has the potential to transform monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) practice in Africa, yet most African languages remain underrepresented and under-resourced in the AI models underpinning NLP. This session brings together evaluators, NLP developers, and actors from the African language resourcing ecosystem to address three questions:

• How can NLP strengthen evaluation practice in Africa and what Africa-led tools and approaches already exist? 
• How can evaluators and NLP developers collaborate in ways that center linguistic realities and improve data collection, analysis, and evidence-informed decision-making?
• What practical guidance should shape NLP investment so that it meaningfully resources African languages for MERL use?

Speakers are Sonia Jindal (Gates Foundation), Ruth Orbach (GSMA Foundation), Chinazo Anebelundu (Data Science Nigeria), Paul Warambo (CLEAR Global) and Vari Matimba (The MERL Tech Initiative) as the moderator.

Tech-enabled Community Listening: Navigating tools, ethics, and power

May 21st, at 11:30am in Nairobi 

This roundtable brings together tool developers and implementing organizations to navigate the realities of tech-enabled Community Listening. We will discuss and share experiences, challenges, failures, gaps and emerging learning about selecting and implementing tools that seek to improve connections with communities, generate rapid insights to inform programming priorities, and amplify previously unheard voices in decision-making. MTI’s Linda Raftree will be joined by Lauren Ropp (I4DI), Prateek Jain (Sattva Consulting), and Mary Nzilani (Africa’s Voices Foundation). 

Voice as the Next Frontier for Inclusive Conversational AI (panel)

May 21st, at 1:30pm in Nairobi

As conversational AI expands across global health, development, and public services, most systems continue to prioritise text-based interfaces—often excluding populations with low literacy, limited digital fluency, or languages that are under-resourced in written form. In many African contexts, voice is not merely an accessibility feature; it is the primary mode of communication and trust-building. Designing effective voice agents therefore requires deep audience insight, strong formative research, and intentional human-centred digital design. This session explores how “knowing your audience” fundamentally shapes voice-enabled conversational systems across multiple delivery models. The session will explore how to apply this insight, featuring Reach Digital Health demonstrating voice layered onto WhatsApp for extended access, Viamo sharing perspectives from operating large-scale voice-first platforms, the MERL Tech Initiative focusing on formative research and gender-responsive design for equitable solutions, and Data Science Nigeria providing a big-picture view on voice as the future of AI adoption in Africa. Participants will leave with practical frameworks for audience research, product design, and impact evaluation, contributing actionable evidence on how voice technologies can unlock access and meaningful engagement for under-served populations.

Panelists are Carlos Yerena and Milton Madanda from Reach, Celine Duros from Viamo, Olamide Shogbamu from Data Science Nigeria, and MTI’s Linda Raftree. 

Workshop: Made in Africa AI Approaches in MERL : MERL Competency Deep Dive

May 22nd at 1030am, Nairobi

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping development practice. MERL practitioners are increasingly required to make day-to-day decisions about whether, when, and how to use AI responsibly for data collection, analysis, and reporting. Yet much of the current “AI for MERL” guidance remains disconnected from African realities, power relations, and knowledge systems. Through a practical, skills-focused session, participants will work toward the following:

• Co-develop the key elements of a Made in Africa AI-for-MERL framework that centres African evaluators’ roles, values, and contexts.
• Identify the competencies (i.e technical, ethical, governance, and contextual) needed to move Made in Africa AI commitments from theory to day-to-day MERL practice.
• Outline a decolonial, localized evidence-building process, from data collection to analysis and reporting that strengthens decision-making while reducing harm and extractive dynamics in alignment with Made in Africa MERL principles. 
• Clarify what should inform policy formulation and guidance on AI for MERL in Africa, including safeguards against data extractivism and pathways for accountability.

Facilitated by Vari Matimba, Emeka Nwankwo and Linda Raftree of The MERL Tech Initiative