Around the world, over 2.5 billion people require at least one form of assistive technology, ranging from mobility aids like wheelchairs to hearing assistance devices to AI-based communication tools. However, nearly one billion people globally lack access to these basic necessities. In low- and middle-income countries, coverage can be as low as 3%. This gap represents exclusion, and a lost opportunity in human potential.
Research shows that every dollar invested in assistive technology generates up to nine dollars in return through increased productivity, improved well-being, and reduced healthcare costs. For children, especially those with early-onset impairments, access to assistive products can translate into lifetime earnings increases of over $100,000. The global picture is clear: inclusive innovation in assistive technology is not merely a moral obligation; it’s a powerful engine for economic and social development.
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Yet, significant challenges remain. Structural barriers like inadequate financing, weak regulatory systems, poor infrastructure, and widespread stigma still limit global access to assistive devices. While many countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), translating legal commitments into practical delivery remains an ongoing struggle. Still, the global momentum for inclusion is growing, with development partners, UN agencies, and private actors jointly accelerating access through research, investments, and policy reforms.
Africa is home to about 80 million people living with disabilities. Yet access to assistive technology across the continent remains dangerously low. Only 15 to 25 percent of those who need assistive products are able to obtain them. For mobility aids like wheelchairs, this figure drops even lower, with only 5 to 35% of those in need having access. The digital divide adds another layer to the problem. While smartphone penetration is nearly universal in high-income countries, only about 21 percent of persons with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa own a smartphone.
These figures illustrate a dual challenge: a massive need for assistive technology and a lack of access rooted in financial, infrastructural, and social barriers. Most African countries rely on imported assistive products, which significantly inflates costs. Very few governments cover assistive devices under national health insurance schemes. A fragmented policy environment, where different ministries handle disability affairs with little coordination, further compounds the problem.
Cultural stigma also plays a role. People with disabilities, and even those using assistive products, are often viewed through lenses of pity or shame. Many choose to forgo assistive devices to avoid social discrimination. This further isolates them from schools, jobs, and public life, perpetuating cycles of poverty and exclusion.
Rising Through Innovation: African Solutions Take Shape
Despite the grim realities, Africa’s assistive technology landscape is undergoing a quiet revolution. Entrepreneurs, engineers, researchers, and governments are now reimagining how disability is addressed, not just through charity or welfare, but through inclusion, technology, and innovation.
Traditional wheelchairs often don’t work on Africa’s rough, unpaved terrain. This has led to the development of rugged, affordable, and repairable designs tailored for local conditions. Examples include all-terrain wheelchairs made from bicycle parts, which can be fixed easily in rural workshops. These models are designed to withstand the physical challenges of Africa’s varied geography and are priced far below traditional imports, making mobility more accessible than ever before.
In Kenya, developers have created platforms that translate spoken English into Kenyan Sign Language using AI-based visual translation models. This innovation is giving Deaf communities greater access to education, healthcare, and civic participation. Similar tools are now being developed in Ghana and Nigeria, where engineers are building text-to-speech apps that support local languages and dialects.
Speech-impacted individuals are also benefiting. New AI applications, like voice-cloning tools for people with cleft palates or neurological impairments, are enabling clearer communication and increasing employability. These breakthroughs show how technology is not just enabling access; it is changing lives.
The Sound of Inclusion
In South Africa, a company developed a smartphone-based hearing assessment tool, offering audiology services that were once limited to high-end clinics. Paired with affordable Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids, these innovations have already served hundreds of thousands and received millions in investor funding. These tools, which cost a fraction of traditional hearing devices, are now being scaled across the continent.
Meanwhile, a startup offering affordable eyeglasses has expanded across East and West Africa with over 70 branches. Their model, based on affordability, convenience, and community outreach, targets people who previously couldn’t afford prescription lenses. In many African cities, 70 to 80% of people who need glasses don’t have them, simply due to cost or access. These entrepreneurs are flipping that narrative.
Government-Led Breakthroughs
Kenya is at the forefront of building assistive technology systems. In 2023, the Ministry of Health launched a national program with a goal to provide mobility, vision, hearing, and communication products to nearly 275,000 people. In addition to product provision, Kenya is investing in training, public awareness, and healthcare worker education to promote inclusion.
Hospitals have begun offering newborn hearing screening to detect impairment early, and assistive devices are now being provided at a reduced cost, some by as much as 90 percent. School systems are also receiving screen readers and navigation aids, allowing students with disabilities to participate more fully in classroom learning. Kenya is one of the few African countries that has embedded assistive technology into both its health and education systems. It offers a practical blueprint for others on the continent.
All these efforts are anchored in international and regional commitments. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) legally mandates signatories to provide access to assistive technology. Across Africa, the African Union adopted the Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2018. The protocol pushes for national disability strategies, funding frameworks, and digital accessibility guidelines.
However, policy alone does not guarantee implementation. Only a handful of countries in Africa have national assistive technology strategies in place. Even fewer have regulations to ensure the quality, safety, and affordability of assistive products. Much of the market remains donor-driven, and systems for procurement, training, and distribution remain underdeveloped. That’s why partnerships between governments, international donors, the private sector, and disabled persons’ organisations are so crucial to long-term change.
The Roadblocks That Remain
Despite encouraging progress, major challenges persist. Infrastructure, such as roads, clinics, and electricity, is still weak in many regions. Devices that rely on mobile networks or power grids are difficult to use in remote communities. Skilled professionals to fit, maintain, and repair assistive devices are in short supply. And most countries still do not have tax exemptions or subsidies for assistive products, leaving many out of reach.
The digital divide is another critical obstacle. While AI-powered tools offer great promise, many are being designed in non-African contexts. This raises concerns about cultural relevance, language support, and long-term sustainability. Without African ownership of data, intellectual property, and design, there is a risk of dependence on foreign technology, creating a new kind of digital colonialism.
A Framework for Dignity and Inclusion
To truly transform Africa’s assistive technology landscape, efforts must move beyond innovation into structured systems thinking. Governments across the continent need to embed assistive technology within national health and education strategies, treating it as a foundational pillar of inclusive development. This includes committing long-term funding through national budgets rather than relying on short-term donor-driven interventions.
The role of the private sector and civil society is equally important. Public-private collaborations should be cultivated to expand local manufacturing capacity, which can reduce costs and promote the availability of context-appropriate devices. Rather than relying on imported products that may not suit African terrains or linguistic contexts, investments in African-led innovation will ensure relevance and sustainability.
National frameworks must align with international legal obligations such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the African Union’s Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. These documents should not merely sit on shelves—they must shape procurement policies, training curricula, and service delivery standards in every country.
Data systems are also essential. Without detailed registries that track who needs assistive technology, where gaps exist, and which products work best, governments and partners will continue to operate in the dark. Coordinated data collection and evaluation are necessary to optimise spending, measure impact, and scale what works.
Human capital must be part of the solution. Building a robust network of local technicians, clinicians, educators, and community-based support workers will ensure that assistive devices are not only distributed but also fitted, maintained, and adapted to individual needs over time.
Finally, digital innovation must be driven from within Africa, not imported wholesale. AI tools, speech recognition apps, and sign language databases need to be developed using African voices, languages, accents, and cultural realities. Without local data and design ownership, Africa may find itself dependent on technologies that do not fully serve its people.
Technology as a Tool, Not a Trophy
Adaptive Africa is more than a concept; it is a call to action. It is about restoring dignity to millions through technology that listens, moves, speaks, and sees. From rugged wheelchairs to AI voice tools, from eyeglasses to digital sign language, the continent is proving that innovation can be inclusive and impactful.
But for this momentum to last, inclusion must not be treated as a trend. It must be embedded in governance, in budgets, in schools, in clinics, and in communities. Africa’s disability narrative is shifting from one of pity and limitation to one of agency, opportunity, and innovation. The time is now to ensure that no one is left behind, not by accident, and certainly not by design.
