Young data scientists form company to drive research into Afrocentric solutions in Artificial Intelligence landscape in Africa
By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE BUSINESS Editor-In-Chief
The three young data scientists have ambitious ideas of changing the Artificial intelligence landscape in the country and they are Pelonomi Moiloa, Jade Abott and Vukosi Marivate.
A new company formed by these highly qualified data scientists aims at changing the artificial intelligence landscape in Africa, starting from South Africa with 11 official languages not all of which are catered for in artificial intelligence applications development.
That has to change, insist the three founders of Lelapa AI. To achieve its aims the company has set up a research hub, a lab to research for Afrocentric solutions to artificial intelligence challenges.
Lelapa AI believes thatgoing digital and using artificial intelligence is the next revolution! Therefore Lelapa AIis at the forefront of making IT accessible and more than just for the select few, but starting from the ground up.
Lelapa AIis about building localised customer-facing products and services with AI expertise and also being a research hub solely to solve African problems by Africans. Founded in 2022 the company is a conglomerate of highly qualified researchers, scientists and engineers; who are socially grounded in using AI to create a real impact.
“Lelapa AI was born to be a conduit for positive change through technology by addressing the specific needs of the continent and combating African brain drain,” says the Chief Executive Officer Pelonomi Moiloa.
The team addresses how AI isn’t serving Africa and how most solutions and applications are from the West, not from an African lens. Language is the main barrier. South Africa alone has 11 official languages, and they’re looking at creating applications and technologies that are beneficial to all. This a considerable task seeing there isn’t much data in local languages which is why a local research hub is crucial in ensuring all South Africans are served.
Lelapa AI is launching products such as Vulavula, an NLP-as-a-service, focusing on under-represented languages. This will enable clients to connect with their next million customers in their own language within their own context.
The team hopes to make a change in the country using artificial intelligence to improve sectors such as agriculture, education, healthcare and energy.
The Team
Pelonomi Moiloa Chief Executive Officer
Pelonomi has spent 8 years in the data science domain, leading data science teams in developing and productionalising machine learning solutions in the finance industry.
She has Biomedical and Electrical Engineering degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand and an MSc from Tohoku University where she did research on a deep learning application for neurophysiology.
A community organiser she is a Trustee of the Ruth First Jeppe Memorial Trust and runs the Code Kamoso coding academy for girl teens as co-director of The Ungovernable NPC. Pelonomi was named to the 200 Young South Africans list in 2019.
Jade Abott, Chief Operating Officer
Jade has 10 years of experience building and AI in the industry working across banking to NGOs to startups. She is co-founder of Masakhane, the grassroots organisation driving NLP research in African languages, for Africans, by Africans. Abbott holds an MSc. from the University of Pretoria. Recent honours include being one of South Africa’s Inspiring Fifty 2020 and the Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans 2021.
Vukosi Marivate, Chief Technology Officer
Vukosi is the ABSA Chair of Data Science at the University of Pretoria. Vukosi co-founded both the Deep Learning Indaba and Masakhane. He holds a PhD from Rutgers and attended Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development. Vukosi was named to the 200 Young South Africans list for his work on the COVID-19 ZA Dashboard in 2020.
Social Media:
Instagram: @lelapaai
Twitter: @lelapaai