The Digital Frontline: Africa’s One Health Champions
Twenty data practitioners from across Africa took part in the One Health Data Analytics Capacity Development Program launched in Kigali, Rwanda, 2024 ©GIZ 2024
In an era where urbanization, climate change and recurrent infectious disease outbreaks are reshaping the public health landscape across the African continent, countries face not only increasingly complex epidemiological threats but also a critical shortage of expertise required to prevent, detect and respond to them. Yet amid these challenges lies a distinct comparative advantage: a young, technologically adept population driving innovation and digital transformation across the continent. This presents a unique opportunity to leverage digital approaches to strengthen integration across One Health sectors at both continental as well as global levels.
GIZ’s One Health Data Alliance Africa (OHDAA) project, which currently manages the One Digital Health Community of Practice, a flagship initiative under the Digital Transformation Strategy of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), undertook the implementation of the One Health data analysis capacity development program, which targeted data experts from the human, animal and environmental health sectors. The goal was to strengthen capacities in data analytics to improve decision-making for health security, as well as demonstrate how data from different sources and sectors can be integrated to address complex One Health challenges.
The program began with an open call for young data experts that attracted more than 500 applications from all over the continent. From these competitive applications, a cohort of 8 outstanding applications were selected. Additionally, 12 data personnel working in One Health in different Ministries in Cameroon, Malawi, Rwanda and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) joined the cohort. The one year program kicked off officially at the Africa Health Tech Summit 2024 in Kigali, Rwanda.
The training program used a combination of in-person workshops, online trainings and mentoring sessions to deliver in-depth training in foundations of data management, analysis and visualization as well as AI and Machine Learning. The cohort applied this knowledge to specific One Health priorities in the countries such as Female Genital Schistosomiasis, Rift Valley fever, and malaria and developed research projects demonstrating how data could be transformed and utilized for decision-making.
Beyond individual capacity development, it effectively demonstrated how cross-sectoral data integration and collaboration across multiple disciplines can solve complex One Health challenges. However, several pertinent challenges were also highlighted – for several identified use cases data was not available, or the quality was so weak that analytics could not be attempted. Another challenge was that data from various sources was often not standardized, making integration difficult.
To ensure the program’s long-term sustainability, a Steering Committee was established, comprising representatives from the Ministries of Health of Cameroon, Rwanda, and Malawi, as well as Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), African Union- Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), Africa CDC and Smart Africa. This collaborative governance ensured strategic oversight, with Jeanne Yamfashije from Smart Africa emphasizing,“Youth talent is becoming a new kind of currency for the continent, with the potential to shape not only innovation but also entrepreneurship in health and beyond.” Building on this foundation, the broader impact of the program becomes even clearer when considering the participants themselves, whose reflections not only highlight personal growth but also demonstrate a transformed approach to using data, informing policy, and addressing health challenges, ultimately equipping them to operate effectively within the evolving and interconnected One Health ecosystem.
This impact of the program became visible during it’s final workshop organized on the sidelines of the African Animal Welfare Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon in August 2025. In a powerful and inspirational session two groups from the program presented their results, including an AI-powered, surveillance model designed to improve detection and response to Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS), a neglected tropical disease prevalent in many freshwater-dependent communities across sub-Saharan Africa. The project integrated human health, environmental, animal and geospatial datasets using interoperable, open-source tools and harmonised them into a unified data schema compatible with DHIS2. The team developed a predictive model capable of identifying FGS risk zones with strong performance metrics and the results were translated into geospatial hotspot maps and a proof of concept of an interactive One Health-FGS Prediction App that could potentially enable local health workers to upload data and generate real-time risk predictions. Another group presented their work on seasonal variability of Rift Valley fever, a mosquito-borne viral zoonosis that threatens both animal and human health, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The team utilized predictive analytics and geospatial mapping tools to generate risk maps for current and projected climate scenarios. These as well as the other analytical models developed by the teams during the One Health data analysis capacity development program have the potential to be integrated in the African Union Digital One Health Platform, an open-source technology-based framework that preserves national control over data while enabling data integration and secure, well-governed, cross-sectoral data sharing and advanced analytics (For a broader overview of OHDAA and its objectives, see Article 1 of this series).
The discussions during the Africa Animal Welfare Conference in Cameroon, also generated strong momentum beyond the immediate project partners. Several civil society stakeholders expressed their willingness to share relevant datasets in the future with national ministries and African Union institutions to strengthen predictive modelling and evidence-based planning. Participants agreed that such collaboration requires data to be collected and documented in a standardized manner to enable interoperability and meaningful integration across systems. This was further reflected in the official report of the Africa Animal Welfare Conference, which explicitly encouraged African Union Member States in one of it’s resolutions to recognise the interconnection between animal health, welfare and the environment, and to “promote multisectoral collaboration by integrating One Health and One Welfare data through the African Union Digital One Health Platform as a foundation for evidence-based decisions and targeted investments”.
For Hannah Brima, a data analyst from Sierra Leone, the training was transformative. “Through the training, I’ve learned how to analyze and translate data and see One Health as an integrated, dynamic ecosystem” she recalled. The ability to translate data into actionable insights was echoed by Estelle Kinyuy from Cameroon, “We worked with climate data, and geospatial analysis, and integrated information from different sources to produce risk maps. These maps became powerful tools for predictive analysis and policymaking,” she said. Estelle’s group applied the One Digital Health logic to a pressing climate-linked challenge: child malnutrition in Cameroon. By integrating monthly climate data from the NASA POWER API with health area-level malnutrition surveillance data from DHIS2, the team developed a predictive model to estimate under-five malnutrition rates. The model demonstrated strong performance, accurately estimating national case numbers for 2024 and identifying high-risk zones. Beyond the analytics, the project proposed a pathway to embed climate–nutrition estimations into national surveillance workflows, linking predictive outputs to DHIS2 dashboards and early warning mechanisms. By connecting environmental signals with public health data in a standardized and interoperable format, the group illustrated how data from different sources can be integrated to shift nutrition responses from reactive crisis management to anticipatory, data-driven action in climate-vulnerable settings.
This cooperation between different sectors is a critical component of the One Health Approach and reinforces the vision of the One Health Community of Practice (CoP), which brings together One Digital Health practitioners from different backgrounds to share innovations and experience around One Health data.
As a testament to the program’s influence, participants have gone on to achieve remarkable milestones. Anne Aminata from Nigeria was recently selected as a Chevening Scholar, while Estelle Kelly Nguefang Ketchejeu, from Cameroon, was chosen for the Africa CDC mentorship program showcasing how the training continues to open doors and inspire leadership in digital health across the continent. These achievements highlight how investments in digital health capacity are shaping a generation of innovators ready to lead Africa’s health transformation.
We congratulate all participants on the successful finalization of the programme and thank Kaikai – ICT4D and Digital Development, for contributing their expertise in data analytics to the programme.
This article is part of a series on strengthening health security in Africa through a One Health approach. After highlighting how capacity development equips professionals to work with integrated data, the next article shows how these approaches are being applied in practice — from national data systems to cross-border cooperation.
👉 Explore the next article: One Digital Health in Action
One Health Data Alliance Africa (OHDAA) Team
Mars 2026