Jade Abbott, founder and CTO of Lelapa AI, is building artificial intelligence tools for African languages, aiming to bridge one of the continent’s deepest divides: communication.
According to Abbott, her fascination with computers and language started in childhood. This was when she explored the possibilities of machines that could understand and respond to human speech.
Today, she leads a startup creating language models that make technology more accessible and inclusive across Africa.
“I grew up without being able to speak our own languages,” she says. “At some stage, I pivoted from building a robot friend to building tools that could help us communicate better. And that became my passion in a very deep way.”
Understanding Lelapa AI
When Abbott launched Lelapa AI, the team focused on African language processing, an area with enormous potential.
According to Abbott, her previous work with Masakhane, a grassroots research collective advancing natural language processing for African languages, informed the startup’s approach.
“Language is the enabler,” she says. “If we get it right, we improve quality of life across the continent.”
Lelapa AI develops models that support translation, voice interfaces, and local-language access to digital services. The startup says the tools have applications in education, healthcare, and civic engagement, helping people interact with technology in languages they understand.
What You Should Know
Abbott oversees engineers and researchers while curating the linguistic data needed to train models capable of handling languages like isiZulu, Yoruba, Twi, and Amharic.
According to her, stepping into leadership required her to let go of hands-on coding, a difficult but necessary shift.
“The hardest part has been letting go of code,” she admits. “It’s easier for me to just build something myself than to explain what’s in my head. But leadership means empowering others, trusting them to run with the vision.”
Abbott credits her leadership style to growing up in a family of musicians. Performance taught her how to bring people along on a journey and create an inclusive, energizing environment.
Industry Landscape and Competitors
The market for artificial intelligence tools tailored to African languages is still in its early stages but is experiencing rapid growth. In addition to Lelapa AI, several startups and research initiatives are emerging to fill this space.
Other competitors include startups like Omdena Africa, working on AI-driven text and speech solutions, and local language-focused projects within larger companies such as Google and Microsoft, which have launched limited African language AI prototypes.
Abbott urges aspiring technologists to seek personal alignment rather than following trends blindly. She cites the Japanese concept of ikigai; the intersection of what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for.
Experts say startups like Lelapa AI stand to unlock significant economic and social impact, improving digital literacy, e-learning, and access to public services across the continent.
Talking Points
It is impressive that Lelapa AI is developing artificial intelligence tools specifically for African languages, addressing a major barrier many people face, which is the lack of digital services and tools in local languages.
This focus positions Lelapa AI as a practical solution for education, healthcare, and civic engagement, enabling people to access information and services in languages they understand.
At Techparley, we see how initiatives like this can expand digital inclusion beyond major urban centres, giving more Africans the chance to participate fully in the digital economy.
The combination of locally curated linguistic data, machine learning models, and multilingual support means technology can be more accessible, accurate, and culturally relevant than generic AI platforms.
However, there is still work to do to scale adoption and impact. Success will depend on collecting sufficient data, training models effectively, and building trust with communities and institutions.
As Lelapa AI grows, there is an opportunity to accelerate uptake through partnerships with governments, educational institutions, tech companies, and research networks, ultimately helping more Africans benefit from AI in their own languages.
