The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Haitian technology hub Banj launched the ProAI programme on 11 March 2026 — Haiti’s first significant AI-focused professional training initiative. The programme targets approximately 100 participants across developers, students, private sector representatives, and government employees, and is funded and delivered at no cost to participants.
ProAI’s stated objectives include: developing an AI ecosystem in Haiti; training qualified digital professionals for the local market; enabling private companies to improve operational efficiency through AI; and preparing government agencies to develop AI policy and legal frameworks. The programme acknowledges that Haiti lacks a national AI strategy and has limited AI training infrastructure.
Who it affects: A cohort of approximately 100 professionals and students, including public-sector participants. The programme is IDB-funded and free to participants, making it a de facto public AI literacy resource, though small-scale relative to national need.
What is notably missing: ProAI is a pilot cohort of 100 people in a country of 11 million — it does not constitute a national AI literacy programme, school curriculum mandate, or governance framework. Haiti has no national AI strategy, no named AI governance body, no employer AI training obligations, and no worker rights provisions. Ongoing political instability and digital infrastructure gaps remain major structural barriers.
Secondary source: https://www.chokarella.com/2026/03/12/la-bid-et-banj-lancent-proai-pour-positionner-haiti-dans-la-revolution-de-lia/