The Tanzanian government has accelerated the development of a Kiswahili-based language model as part of its national digital transformation strategy.
The announcement was made by the Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Angellah Kairuki, during the presentation of her department’s 2026/2027 budget priorities.
The project is being led by the Tanzania Information and Communication Technologies Commission (ICTC). Its goal is to adapt artificial intelligence tools to local linguistic realities in order to make digital services more accessible and inclusive. The initiative aims to enable users to interact with these systems in Kiswahili, a language spoken by more than 100 million people across East Africa and the Great Lakes region.
Authorities believe the project will help reduce the digital divide, particularly in rural areas where language barriers still slow the adoption of technology. The future model is also expected to facilitate the production and distribution of educational and informational content in a language accessible to a wider population, while encouraging the development of local digital tools.
Beyond accessibility, the initiative is part of a broader ambition to build a Kiswahili-language data ecosystem designed to strengthen the capabilities of local developers and innovators. It also aims to improve the representation of African languages in artificial intelligence systems, which are still largely dominated by Western languages.
The initiative comes at a time of rapid growth in Tanzania’s digital sector. According to official figures, the number of mobile subscribers reached 111.9 million in March 2026, up from 90.4 million a year earlier. The country has also recorded a significant increase in internet users, estimated at 58.9 million over the same period.
