Burundi to host World Swahili Day celebration as AI shapes regional language push

Burundi is set to host the fifth World Swahili Language Day celebrations and the third international conference of the East African Kiswahili Commission (KAKAMA) from July 5 to 7. The event will convene delegates from across East Africa and beyond to deliberate on the future of the Kiswahili language, particularly in the context of artificial intelligence.

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Kiswahili has been recognised as a language of international status, with the potential to contribute to development across East African Community partner states.

The conference, preceding World Swahili Language Day on July 7, will bring together representatives from East African Community partner states, including Burundi, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Tanzania. International organizations, diplomats, academics, civil society, and private sector stakeholders will also participate.

This year's theme, "Kiswahili, Multilingualism and Artificial Intelligence," underscores the increasing regional focus on integrating African languages into advanced technologies. Discussions will center on machine translation, speech recognition, and large language models, reflecting efforts to ensure African languages are not left behind in the digital revolution.

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The Kiswahili language can enable investors to tap into various opportunities available in member countries, given that it is spoken across about eight partner states of the Community.

Dr. Caroline Asiimwe, Executive Secretary of KAKAMA, emphasized Kiswahili's recognized international status and its potential to foster development across East African Community states. She noted that the language's reach, spanning approximately eight partner states, facilitates easier access for investors to regional markets. Furthermore, Kiswahili is increasingly supporting small businesses, even in rural areas, by enabling effective communication through AI tools that allow users to operate in their preferred language.

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Kiswahili also enables even entrepreneurs and businesspeople in rural areas to choose the language they want through artificial intelligence tools, allowing them to communicate effectively.

However, KAKAMA also raised concerns about Kiswahili's underrepresentation in digital systems and AI tools, despite being spoken by tens of millions. The commission warned of a potential digital divide, risking the exclusion of millions from crucial digital services like education, e-commerce, financial services, and e-government platforms due to language barriers if this gap is not addressed.

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If this gap is not addressed, there is a risk of excluding millions from digital education, e-commerce, financial services and e-government platforms due to language barriers.