The Gates Foundation and MTN Group Foundation, the charitable arm of telecom company MTN, have announced a new partnership to bring artificial intelligence (AI) into maternal health care in Nigeria, with the goal of helping 500,000 women access higher-quality care by 2030.
The initiative, called the Nigeria Maternal Health Multiplier, was announced on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, at Semafor's Next 3 Billion event in New York, held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
It comes with an initial investment of about $25 million between 2026 and 2030 from the two organisations, including direct and in-kind contributions, according to the Gates Foundation and MTN.
The programme aims to equip 5,000 frontline health workers with tools to identify complications from pregnancy and childbirth early, and enable 500 health facilities to deliver more consistent, higher-quality maternal health care.
Nigeria accounts for nearly 30% of all maternal deaths worldwide, more than any other country, with an estimated 75,000 deaths in 2023, according to the World Health Organization's latest Trends in Maternal Mortality report.
Globally, the maternal mortality ratio, a measure of how many women die for every 100,000 births, has fallen by about 40% since 2000, but progress has slowed in recent years.
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The same report shows how wide the gap between rich and poor countries remains: low-income countries recorded 346 maternal deaths per 100,000 births in 2023, more than 30 times the rate of 10 per 100,000 in high-income countries.
MTN said only 59% of Nigerian women complete four or more antenatal care visits, a figure it cited as part of the challenge facing maternal health in the country, adding that warning signs can go undetected until it is too late.
The Nigeria Maternal Health Multiplier has three parts: AI-enabled, phone-based decision-support tools for health workers and pregnant women, affordable smartphones and mobile data, and improved connectivity at health facilities.
It is designed to complement Nigeria's existing maternal and child health efforts, including the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative being implemented by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
Mark Suzman, chief executive officer of the Gates Foundation, said AI has "enormous potential to improve health," but that its benefits need to reach the people who stand to gain the most.
Left to the market alone, he said, "potential tends to benefit those who can already afford it," rather than the people who need it most.
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