No Community Left Behind

We’re building AI that understands and speaks Africa’s languages, beginning with Uganda, to unlock digital opportunity for every community.

Our Research Get Involved
Our Mission

Africa has 2,000+ living languages.
AI speaks just a few of them.

While AI is rapidly advancing in major world languages, many African languages are still left behind. That gap limits access to education, healthcare, and digital opportunities for millions of people. Kukuza AI Lab is building technology that changes this.

Building speech and language AI technologies rooted in Africa’s linguistic and cultural realities, starting with Uganda. Our systems are open, accessible, and designed for the communities that need them most.

"If AI can't speak your language, it wasn't built for you. We're building it for everyone."

🎓 Originating from Soroti University, we are advancing AI research for African languages and communities.
0
Languages in Uganda
0
Languages Deployed
0
Researchers
0
Project: VisualAid
Explore

Open Source Resources

We believe in open science. Access our datasets, try our models, watch our demos, and contribute to our codebase.

XTTS Ugandan Languages preview

XTTS Ugandan Languages

We create natural-sounding speech that understands and reflects multiple Ugandan languages including Acholi, Ruyankole, Lumasaba and Lusoga.

huggingface.co
XTTS Common Voice preview

XTTS Luganda

natural-sounding speech that understands and reflects Luganda, making digital voices feel more local and human.

huggingface.co
Gemma 3N DPO preview

Gemma 3N 4EB DPO

An on device LLM trained to think and respond thoughtfully in Luganda, helping users solve problems and access information intuitively.

huggingface.co

Languages We're Working With

Luganda~21M+ speakers
Runyankole~4M speakers
Ateso~2M speakers
Lusoga~2.7M speakers
Acholi~1.7M speakers
Lango~1.6M speakers
Lugbara~2.2M speakers
Karamojong~500K speakers
Swahili~230M speakers
Kinyarwanda~12M speakers
Luganda~21M+ speakers
Runyankole~4M speakers
Ateso~2M speakers
Lusoga~2.7M speakers
Acholi~1.7M speakers
Lango~1.6M speakers
Lugbara~2.2M speakers
Karamojong~500K speakers
Swahili~230M speakers
Kinyarwanda~12M speakers
Our Work

Projects That Make a Difference

Every project we build serves a community that technology has overlooked. Here's where we're starting.

VisualAid app mockup showing two phones with the AI assistant interface

VisualAid

Our first project focuses on making AI more accessible for people with visual and hearing impairments. VisualAid can read written content out loud and turn spoken words into text in local languages, enabling visually impaired users to listen to written content and hearing-impaired users to read spoken language in real time delivered in their own mother tongue.

Accessibility Spoken Audio Text Transcripts 5+ Languages Mobile & Web
🚀

More projects coming soon because we believe "there are many more communities to reach.

Our Impact

Aligned With Global Goals

Our work directly contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Uganda's National Development Plan.

SDG 4: Quality Education

Quality Education

Making learning resources accessible in students' mother tongues.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Decent Work & Growth

Creating opportunities in AI innovation for local talent.

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Industry & Innovation

Building homegrown AI infrastructure tailored to Africa's context.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

Reduced Inequalities

Ensuring marginalized language groups are included in digital transformation.

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Peace & Justice

Strengthening citizen engagement through inclusive communication.

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Partnerships

Embedding Uganda's linguistic heritage into the global AI economy.

Who Benefits

♿

Impaired Communities

Visually and auditory impaired users gaining digital access

🏫

Students & Educators

Learning resources in mother tongues for equitable education

🌾

Rural Communities

Digital services and information in the languages they understand

💡

Local Innovators

Open datasets and models to build new products and services

Our Network

Rooted in Partnership

Great AI requires great collaboration. We work with institutions that share our vision of inclusive technology.

Interested in collaborating with us? We're always looking for partners who share our vision.

Partner With Us
Get in Touch

Let's Build
Together

Whether you're a researcher, developer, institution, or community member we'd love to hear from you.

Email

info@kukuzaailab.com

Location

Soroti University, Uganda

Open Source

Our datasets and models are publicly available

Send Us a Message