Partnership announced at the 16th ECSA-HC Best Practice Forum

MANZINI, Swaziland and ESWATINI, Swaziland and WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Skye Africa Intelligence (Pty) Ltd ("Skye") and the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community ("ECSA-HC") today announced a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a regional partnership to deploy AI-enabled health solutions across the ECSA-HC membership, announced on the sidelines of the 16th ECSA-HC Best Practice Forum, taking place from 2 to 7 August 2026 in Manzini, Eswatini.

Skye Africa Intelligence (Pty) Ltd is jointly owned by Valio Technologies (Pty) Ltd and Brand Engagement Network, Inc. (NASDAQ:BNAI), whose combined expertise spans conversational AI, digital health deployment, and citizen engagement, including BEN's Skye Salud, a unified platform that transforms medical evidence into actionable formats – bringing physicians and ancillary services together with shared, real-time insights to improve evaluation, decisions and diagnostics solution developed for Mexico.

In addition, Valio and BEN have been developing this youth-focused mental health solution for students in partnership with Nelson Mandela University, now at pre-shipping stage, reflecting the group's broader focus on youth mental health and wellbeing across the region.

The partnership also advances the establishment of a Regional AI Health Development Lab between ECSA-HC and Skye Africa Intelligence, supporting regional innovation, capability development and the responsible deployment of AI-enabled health solutions across the ECSA-HC region. Skye and ECSA-HC have further agreed to collaborate and focus on:

further AI-enabled analytics for the ECSA-HC disease tracking tool, strengthening regional disease surveillance and outbreak preparedness;
the customization, in collaboration with ECSA-HC, of the group's student mental health and wellbeing solution developed with Nelson Mandela University, to respond to the needs of young people across the diverse jurisdictions of the ECSA-HC membership;
working towards the deployment of designated elements of eYakho Health, Valio's e-health platform, together with BEN's Skye Salud solution, reflecting ECSA-HC's recognition of the value these combined solutions offer member states;
joint training and coaching programs, to be undertaken together with ECSA-HC to build regional capacity.

The collaboration is being showcased this week to regional health leaders, policymakers and practitioners from across the ECSA-HC membership, comprising Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, gathered in Manzini for the Best Practice Forum.

In a video conversation published by ECSA-HC on LinkedIn, Dr Ntuli A. Kapologwe and Lefentse Nokaneng outlined the planned next steps, including development of a joint action plan to operationalize the Memorandum of Understanding and advance the proposed regional AI health hub for the benefit of ECSA-HC member states and its network of health colleges.

"We are proud to partner with ECSA-HC, whose leadership has been instrumental in shaping this partnership. We also commend the Kingdom of Eswatini for hosting this important forum and bringing regional leaders together. We look forward to advancing responsible AI-enabled health solutions across the region," said Lefentse Nokaneng, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Skye Africa Intelligence.

"Mental health is one of the biggest challenges amongst the youth. Out of 100 youths, only 9 can access mental health support. Therefore, having AI-powered and digital solutions, we believe we can bridge that gap, so we are excited about the partnership," said Dr Ntuli A. Kapologwe, Director-General, ECSA-HC.

"We must embrace innovation, digital health and responsible artificial intelligence to strengthen healthcare systems and outcomes," said Honorable Mduduzi Matsebula, Minister of Health, Kingdom of Eswatini.

"Secure, responsible AI has the potential to help health systems extend timely, locally relevant information and support to more people while maintaining the governance and accountability these settings require," said Tyler Luck, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Brand Engagement Network. "Through Skye Africa Intelligence and this collaboration with ECSA-HC, BEN looks forward to contributing its technology and experience to initiatives designed to strengthen disease surveillance, expand access to youth mental health support and build digital health capacity across the region."

About Skye Africa Intelligence

Skye Africa Intelligence (Pty) Ltd deploys AI-enabled health and engagement solutions across Africa. The company is jointly owned by Valio Technologies (Pty) Ltd and Brand Engagement Network, Inc. (NASDAQ:BNAI).

About ECSA-HC

The East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community is a regional inter-governmental health organization working to improve health systems and services across its member states through regional cooperation and the harmonization of health policies. ECSA-HC comprises ten Full Member States and has a presence in more than 30 countries across Africa.

About Brand Engagement Network, Inc.

Brand Engagement Network, Inc. ("BEN") builds secure, enterprise-grade artificial intelligence for the engagement layer of AI — where human intent is transformed into intelligent interactions, automated workflows, and real-world outcomes. Powered by BEN's proprietary Engagement Language Model (ELM™), BEN's technology enables conversational AI interactions that connect human intent to organizational data, workflows, and real-world outcomes. BEN's AI operates within secure closed-loop environments using approved organizational data and built-in governance and compliance controls. Trusted by organizations operating in regulated and high-impact industries, BEN helps bring AI into real operational settings where engagement drives outcomes and accountability matters. For more information, visit www.brandengagementnetwork.com.

CONTACTS:

ECSA-HC Media Contact: omwwandumbya@ecsahc.org.za

BEN Media Contact: amy@beninc.ai

BEN Investor Relations: investors@beninc.ai

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the anticipated benefits of the partnership and Memorandum of Understanding; the development and implementation of a joint action plan; the establishment and operation of the Regional AI Health Development Lab or regional AI health hub; the development, customisation, commercialisation, deployment and adoption of AI-enabled health solutions, including Skye Salud and the student mental health and wellbeing solution; expansion across ECSA-HC member states and health colleges; and BEN's business strategy, growth initiatives and deployment activities. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Risks include, but are not limited to, the parties' ability to execute implementation plans; secure required approvals, funding, infrastructure, data and local resources; develop, integrate and deploy the contemplated solutions; achieve institutional, governmental and end-user adoption; comply with applicable healthcare, data privacy, artificial intelligence and other laws across multiple jurisdictions; protect data and systems; competition; financial performance; and other risks described in BEN's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and subsequent filings. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. BEN undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law.

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SOURCE Brand Engagement Network, Inc. (BEN)