At Indaba X South Africa, hosted at Wits University, we caught up with Pelonomi Moiloa, the dynamic CEO and co-founder of Lelapa AI. Against the backdrop of an event designed to celebrate and propel African AI talent, Moiloa shared how Lelapa AI born from the very spirit of the Indaba X community is pushing the boundaries of language technology. More than just a research-driven venture, Lelapa AI is on a mission to create real-world, impactful solutions tailored for Africa’s linguistic and cultural diversity
Moiloa painted a compelling picture of Africa’s AI landscape, emphasizing the urgent need for foundational AI and ML skills. Beyond academic prowess, she championed the move from research to commercialization, urging African innovators to harness their vast data resources and turn them into thriving businesses. Ethical data commercialization, she argued, isn’t just an economic opportunity it’s a pathway to Africa’s technological self-sufficiency and global competitiveness.
But with great AI power comes great responsibility. Moiloa tackled the often overlooked danger of hallucinations in GPT models, cautioning against blind faith in AI-generated outputs. In a continent as linguistically rich as Africa, ensuring AI’s accuracy and contextual awareness is paramount. As the AI revolution gains momentum, initiatives like Indaba X and startups like Lelapa AI aren’t just keeping Africa in the conversation they’re ensuring Africa shapes the narrative, building technology that speaks its languages and tells its stories.
