Regulation

Industry and governments support African AI language initiative

Industry and governments support African AI language initiative

Senior figures from industry association the GSMA, and representatives of the governments of Nigeria, Togo, Kenya, Namibia and Benin have announced ATLAS Umoja AI – a new pan-African initiative to strengthen collaboration on African language AI.

The announcement took place at the recent African Telecommunications Union (ATU) Conference of Plenipotentiaries (CPL-2026) in Abuja, Nigeria.

Designed to complement national AI programmes, ATLAS Umoja will bring together governments, industry and researchers to share expertise, datasets and best practice, helping develop trusted, scalable AI that better reflects Africa’s languages, cultures and development priorities. The initiative aims to accelerate innovation, attract investment and scale African language AI across the continent.

The launch builds on the momentum of the newly established AI for Good Global Commission. Ministers from Nigeria, Namibia and Togo, who serve on the Commission, have committed to support ATLAS Umoja, demonstrating how African leaders are turning global ambitions for trusted and inclusive AI into practical regional collaboration.

Angela Wamola, Head of Africa, GSMA, says: “Africa’s AI future must reflect Africa’s own languages, communities and development priorities. ATLAS Umoja brings together governments, industry, researchers and innovators to build African language AI at scale. By making AI and digital services available in the languages people speak every day, the initiative will help tackle two of the biggest barriers to internet adoption – digital literacy and locally relevant content – supporting efforts to close Africa’s usage gap and expand meaningful connectivity across the continent.”

The same event also saw the Abuja Ministerial Declaration on Meaningful Connectivity for Africa by a number of Ministers and Heads of Delegation. The Declaration commits African governments to advancing policies that promote meaningful connectivity, digital inclusion, technology-neutral regulation, resilient digital infrastructure and locally relevant digital services.



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