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US Fintech Invest in African Language Chatbot with Microsoft

US Fintech Invest in African Language Chatbot with Microsoft

12/10/2017

Ovamba, a Fintech company, has announced that is partnering with Microsoft to create “the first African language driven chatbot designed to serve the millions of African SMEs who face exclusion from financial services due to the challenges of functional and business literacy”. Ovamba is a US-founded fintech company that focuses that develops online platforms and…

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BBC Targets Ethiopia and Eritrea With More African Languages

BBC Targets Ethiopia and Eritrea With More African Languages

20/09/2017

The BBC is on a roll when it comes to African languages! Its has now announced it is adding even more languages to its news service in Africa, this time to attract users from Ethiopia and Eritrea. The latest localization move see the launch of three news websites in Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language, Afaan Oromo,…

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BBC Adds Seven More African Languages

BBC Adds Seven More African Languages

19/05/2017

The BBC has announced that it will launch 11 new language services in 2017 as part of an expansion project – 7 of the languages are African! The new languages are Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Tigrinya, Igbo, Yoruba and Nigerian Pidgin. This is great and exciting news for the development of African languages. Why these African…

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Advertisers Beware – Somali Only Signs in Mogadishu

Advertisers Beware – Somali Only Signs in Mogadishu

12/02/2016

Mogadishu – the capital of Somalia – has ordered businesses to remove English-language signboards and to replace them with Somali language ones in order to protect the native language. In yet another strike against the languages of colonial times, this is another step in the revival of African languages. “Residents are required to remove signs written…

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African Languages poorly represented on Wiki

African Languages poorly represented on Wiki

26/01/2016

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, had recently called for more African users to upload content in African languages. Charlie Fripp from htxt.african investigates whether this has made any difference. At present there are over 5 million articles in the English language, 1.8 million in German, almost 1.3 million in Russian, and 1.2 million in Spanish and Italian….

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Nigeria drops Arabic script from banknotes

Nigeria drops Arabic script from banknotes

15/12/2015

Language can sometimes become a very sensitive political issue; especially in multilingual nations with clear divisions in terms of ethnicity, tribe or religious beliefs. Nigeria has become the latest African country to witness the deep ties to language and the risks at stake when politics and language mix. Last year the Central Bank of Nigeria…

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New York sees High Demand for African Language Translation

New York sees High Demand for African Language Translation

29/11/2015

According to census results more than 16 different African languages are now spoken in the Bronx, New York. An influx of West African migrants has resulted in a surge in demand for languages such as Twi, Wolof and more! “People are arriving with language barriers, and as they come and have children in schools, we…

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Ethiopia Airlines Now Speaks the Chinese Language

Ethiopia Airlines Now Speaks the Chinese Language

25/10/2015

As well as language being a potential barrier to business for those looking to come into Africa, it can also hinder African businesses capturing foreign business. Recognising this, Ethiopia Airlines is investing in Chinese speaking staff to entice Yen spending tourists in the country. According to news outlets such as Yahoo!, Chinese crew members will be…

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Microsoft bet on Swahili language to break African market

Microsoft bet on Swahili language to break African market

23/10/2015

Microsoft has thrown down the gauntlet in Africa, launching Swahili text translation within Microsoft Translator, the first African language to be offered by the company. Translation into Swahili (or Kiswahili) will be available throughout the Microsoft Translator ecosystem of supported products allowing users to access it when needing translation help.  This includes Bing, Microsoft Office, (Word, Word…

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Why is Africa a “have-not” in the Digital Divide?

Why is Africa a “have-not” in the Digital Divide?

22/09/2015

Many people wonder as to why Africa lags so far behind on the internet stakes. Look at any infographic about “the most” internet users, highest penetration rates or e-commerce sales and you rarely see an African nation. Why? The reason why is what is known as the digital divide. The digital divide is a term used…

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