AI models are trained on hundreds of billions of words, yet less than one percent of that data originates from African sources, thereby entrenching biases and stereotypes about Africa, according to Mthabisi Bokete, CEO of Orion X.
This glaring digital inequality, Bokete explains, presents a set of consequences: it erases African languages and cultural logic, and it causes Western models to โhallucinateโ when asked about Africa, presenting fiction as fact.
Enter Uhuru, an indigenous African language model conceived to push back at this digital colonialism and challenge existing AI power structures. โUhuru places authentic African knowledge at the core of the model,โ says Bokete, who is also an AI expert.
โWe aim to unleash African imagination and use AI as fuel for the fastest leap in human development ever recordedโfrom bigger harvests and fairer micro-loans to personalised schooling for every child on the continent,โ he says.
Uhuru, which meansย freedomย in Kiswahili, stands for more than just a name. โIt represents freedom of data, freedom of language, and ultimately, freedom of economic opportunity,โ Bokete adds. โIt signals our intent for Africa to write its own AI future instead of importing someone elseโs assumptions.โ
Unlike mainstream models like ChatGPT and DeepSeek, which are trained on datasets where African content makes up less than one percent, Uhuru is built on a corpus that is roughly 60 percent African. Its cultural-reasoning layer is developed in collaboration with African linguists, ethicists, and elders.
โThis is where global models often default to global-north norms,โ Bokete notes. In contrast, Uhuru includes a lightweight version called Uhuru Mini, which runs on a mid-range laptop or even via SMS, meaning thereโs no need for expensive GPUs or high-speed fibre.
Privacy sovereignty is also baked into the modelโs design. Uhuru uses country-level data centre deployments that keep sensitive information within national borders, avoiding default routes through servers in the U.S. or Europe.
According to Kgengwenyane, Chief AI Officer at Orion X, the model draws from over 40 African languages. But it also incorporates non-digitised knowledge: district-level spreadsheets sitting on civil servantsโ laptops, NGO records, and even paper archives stored in ministry basements.
โWe add oral histories from elders, community-radio transcripts, market-price updates, mobile-money patterns, and agronomy bulletins,โ Kgengwenyane says. โEach fragment is reviewed by native speakers, verified with independent sources, and cleared by an ethics panel to ensure both authenticity and consent.โ
Uhuru is already making waves. In education, the model powers Setswana-English homework help and dyslexia-friendly tutoring. In agriculture, farmers receive crop-disease triage and price forecasts via SMS.
In finance and insurance, mother-tongue chatbots help streamline KYC processes, draft micro-policies, and deliver plain-language explanations of social grants and health benefits.
โImagine an AI system that understands a market vendor managing her tomato stall while transferring money via mobile,โ Kgengwenyane explains. โOne that grasps the logic of side hustles, the richness of African languages, and the wisdom in a grandmotherโs proverb. That is the essence of Uhuruโto build AI that truly reflects and respects the full complexity of African life.โ
Uhuru is accessible via WhatsApp, SMS, USSD, a lightweight web app, or a low-bandwidth mobile interface. A free tier is available for basic queries, while Uhuru Proโwhich includes image generation, file uploads, and unlimited messagingโis priced at an affordable $7, P99, or R149 per month. โIn short, it costs less than a weekly data bundle on most networks,โ Bokete notes.
While Bokete says Botswana provided the entrepreneurial soil in which the Orion X team first took root, formal policy support and infrastructure have remained limited. Even so, Uhuru aims to bridge linguistic, infrastructural, economic, and cultural gaps that global AI models continue to overlook.
โUhuru is not a local skin painted over a foreign brain,โ says Kgengwenyane. โIt is a home-grown intelligenceโbuilt with African voices and validated by African experiencesโto help grow communities, businesses, and countries, unlocking opportunity in the process.โ
Early users can sign up at orionx.xyz or explore advanced features through Uhuru Pro. A developer portal is available at docs.orionx.xyz, and community members are encouraged to join language-steward programs and micro-grant data services via community.uhuru.ai.
โWe remain eager to collaborate,โ Bokete adds, โand we continue to invite government, academia, and industry to co-shape this continental AI journey.โ
