EqualyzAI Launches as a Groundbreaking AI Language Startup in Africa

Happy International Mother Language Day! Oh, you just realized it is today? Well, EqualyzAI didn’t forget at all.

In fact, the pioneering African-centric AI start-up, officially unveiled its solutions today with a bold mission: to build AI solutions that solve real-world problems in emerging markets using hyperlocal multimodal datasets, created in collaboration with native language speakers, to build localized models for agentic AI innovations.

The company aims to make AI truly understand African contexts and speak its languages, ensuring AI innovations are accessible, inclusive, and impactful for the communities that need them most.

Founded by award-winning experts, Dr. Olubayo Adekanmbi and Dr. Ife Adebara, EqualyzAI is committed to ensuring African languages, cultures, and contexts are central to the global AI evolution.

Dr. Adekanmbi brings extensive experience as a C-level executive at MTN and Airtel Africa UK Limited, where he led innovations, analytics and strategy, serving over 250 million customers across over 20 countries on the continent.

Dr. Olubayo Adekanmbi speaking at EqualyzAI’s official launch

He is also a Global Grand Challenge winner for his work on Large Language Models (LLMs) and has played a pivotal role in establishing Data Science Nigeria, Africa’s leading AI learning, research, and solution delivery network.

Dr. Adebara is a globally recognized AI researcher, specializing in Deep Learning, Computational Linguistics and Natural Language Processing (NLP), with a PhD from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada.

She is a UNESCO IRCAI Top 10 Outstanding Global AI Solutions awardee for her work on AfroLID, Serengeti and Cheetah, groundbreaking models for language identification and natural language understanding across 517 African languages.

Rashidat Sikiru, ML Engineer

The unveiling event, held on Friday, February 21, 2025, in celebration of the International Mother Language Day, brought together journalists, industry leaders, and AI enthusiasts to showcase EqualyzAI’s groundbreaking innovations.

The event highlighted the organization’s commitment to promoting linguistic diversity, cultural heritage, and inclusive AI development. Through its unique approach of collaborating with native language speakers, the company is building agentic AI solutions capable of understanding, processing, and generating responses in many African languages.

Speaking at the launch event held at Data Science Nigeria hub, Yaba, Dr. Adekanmbi said:

“Our mission is to ensure that AI speaks our languages, understands our contexts in text, speeches, images and videos, and solves our unique challenges. This is not just about technology; it’s about empowerment and inclusion. At EqualyzAI, we are bridging this gap by creating AI solutions trained on African realities, ensuring that no one is left behind.”

Dr. Adebara further emphasized the importance of localized AI solutions, stating:

“Language is a gateway to knowledge, opportunity, and identity. By building AI that understands and speaks African languages, we are preserving our cultural heritage and creating tools that can transform lives. Africa is home to over 2,000 languages, yet most AI models struggle to understand even a fraction of them. Our goal is to change this by developing AI that speaks and understands Africa’s languages, unlocking new opportunities for education, business, and social impact.”

At the event, EqualyzAI demonstrated its cutting-edge AI solutions designed to address critical challenges in Africa while promoting linguistic diversity.

Uche Edwin, head of Products, EqualyzAI, during the demo session

Key innovations include:

1. DataCollect: A platform designed to collect hyperlocal datasets needed to build AI solutions that speak many African languages, ensuring inclusivity and representation.
2. AfroSLM 1.0: A Small Language Model (SLM) optimized to improve financial literacy in Yoruba and Hausa, empowering users with accessible financial education in their native languages.
3. uLearn: An LLM-powered tool for teachers to generate lesson plans, notes, and quizzes in English and local languages, revolutionizing education delivery across Africa.

The team

Additionally, EqualyzAI shared its recent white paper, titled “How Small Language Models (SLMs) Are Revolutionizing Localized AI Innovations for Social Good in Africa.”

The paper explores the transformative potential of SLMs in addressing Africa’s unique challenges and advancing AI accessibility.

EqualyzAI is not just building AI models—it is building a movement to democratize AI and make its possibilities accessible to all Africans.

By investing in hyperlocal AI innovations, the company aims to create solutions that empower communities, drive economic growth, and preserve Africa’s linguistic heritage.