Connect with us

News

Nigeria’s Intron adds 57 languages to AI speech platform

lamaqgodoz

Published

on

Intron Sahara
Intron Sahara

Nigeria’s AI startup Intron expands it’s speech platform to 57 languages

Intron, a Nigerian artificial intelligence startup has expanded its speech recognition platform, Sahara, to support 57 languages, adding 24 new ones as it scales operations across healthcare, legal, financial services, and telecommunications.

The upgraded Sahara v2, includes 23 African languages and supports more than 500 African accents. Newly added languages include Hausa, Swahili, Yoruba, Igbo, isiZulu, Kinyarwanda, Twi, isiXhosa, Amharic, and Wolof, among others. The company said language selection was driven by commercial demand.

Intron also introduces the world’s first bilingual Swahili-English automatic speech recognition model designed to handle code-switching, alongside new text-to-speech features and offline deployment options for enterprise users.

The development comes amid growing interest in voice technology across Africa, where most of the continent’s estimated 2,000 languages are primarily spoken rather than written. Industry projections show the global speech recognition market could reach $81.59 billion by 2032.

According to Intron, Sahara was trained with locally sourced voice data to better capture African accents, dialects, and speech patterns. The company’s internal benchmarks using African voice datasets showed the platform outperformed global systems such as Gemini, GPT-4, Whisper, ElevenLabs, and Azure by up to 64% in recognising African names, organisations, and locations.

Intron AI

It also reported 35% better performance with numbers, 20% stronger accuracy in noisy or multi-speaker environments, and 25% higher cross-domain accuracy across key sectors.

“We curated datasets of African voices and made them publicly testable so global models can be evaluated on African speech,” said Tobi Olatunji, founder and chief executive officer of Intron.

Founded in 2020 by Olatunji and Olakunle Asekun, the company initially built clinical documentation tools before expanding into broader voice infrastructure. Sahara now powers speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and voice authentication systems for enterprise and government clients.

Intron said it currently records consistent usage in at least six African countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Rwanda, and Uganda.

Its clients include the Ogun State Judiciary and Audere, which uses the platform to transcribe WhatsApp voice messages across multiple accents.

Sahara v2 was built using more than 14 million audio clips, representing over 50,000 hours of speech from more than 40,000 speakers across 30 African countries. The company said much of its early medical speech data had to be created internally due to a lack of existing datasets.

The bilingual Swahili-English model was developed in partnership with Penda Health to address real-time language switching common in clinical settings. Intron said additional bilingual models for languages such as Yoruba, Hausa, Zulu, and Kinyarwanda are in development.

The company also launched a Hausa text-to-speech model aimed at powering multilingual voice applications for call centres, healthcare services, and financial platforms.

While Sahara is primarily cloud-based, Intron has introduced offline deployment through a partnership with Nvidia, enabling the system to run on edge devices in low-connectivity environments.

Intron said it complies with local data protection regulations and allows clients to choose between local and cloud data storage.

The company plans to raise $3 million later in 2026 to expand language coverage and further develop bilingual and sector-specific models.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News

Ekiti 2026: Re-elect Oyebanji for second term – Tinubu tells residents

info

Published

on

By

Tinubu 2 1.jpg

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commended Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s performance in office, telling Ekiti voters that the governor came into leadership fully prepared to serve the people.

Speaking ahead of the June 20 governorship election, Tinubu urged residents to re-elect Oyebanji for a second term.

The endorsement came on Tuesday at the All Progressives Congress mega rally in Ado-Ekiti. The venue was packed with party faithful, allies from other political groups, and supporters across religious and ethnic lines, all showing solidarity with Oyebanji’s re-election bid.

Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, President Tinubu praised Ekiti citizens for their loyalty to the APC over the years.

He described the state as fortunate to have Oyebanji at the helm of affairs, noting that the governor’s actions and policies prove that true leadership is about serving people, not oppressing them or undermining their rights.

Tinubu highlighted Oyebanji’s humility, patience, and respect for traditional rulers and past leaders, pointing out the absence of opposition posters across the state as a sign of Oyebanji’s wide acceptance.

“On Saturday, go out and re-elect this humble and peaceful man to further serve you better,” Shettima said on Tinubu’s behalf. The President then symbolically handed Oyebanji over to former governors and first ladies, urging them to secure victory for him.

Chairman of the APC National Campaign Council and Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, described Oyebanji’s popularity as electrifying.

Chairman of the APC Governors Forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, said the party’s visibility in Ekiti was unmatched. He noted that only the APC had campaigned market to market and house to house.

APC National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwadta, insisted the party’s confidence was rooted in Oyebanji’s connection to the people, not just in being the ruling party.

A visibly elated Governor Oyebanji, joined by his wife Dr Olayemi Oyebanji and Deputy Monisade Afuye, said he was not relying on federal might but on his record and the promises he kept since 2022.

He appealed for a peaceful election and promised that his second term would surpass the achievements of the last three and a half years.

Continue Reading

News

Nigerian Striker Toyosi Olusanya Completes Permanent Move to Aberdeen on Two-Year Deal

info

Published

on

By

IMG 20260616 WA0268.jpg

Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen have secured the permanent signing of London-born Nigerian striker Toyosi Olusanya, with the forward committing his future to the club on a two-year contract after an impressive loan spell.

READ ALSO: Isaac John Turns Heads at Ex-Internationals Cup in Lagos, Declares Himself Ready for the Big Stage 

Sports247 reports that the 28-year-old joins the Dons as a free agent following the expiration of his contract with Major League Soccer side Houston Dynamo. His arrival marks another key addition to manager Stephen Robinson’s rebuilding project ahead of the new season.

Olusanya spent the second half of the previous campaign on loan at Aberdeen, where he quickly adapted to life in Scottish football.

During his stint, he made 18 appearances across all competitions and contributed three goal involvements, earning the confidence of the coaching staff and convincing the club to pursue a permanent deal.

The striker’s work rate, physical presence, and attacking versatility made him a valuable option during his loan spell, and Aberdeen will be hoping he can build on that foundation as they prepare for the challenges of the upcoming Premiership campaign.

His signing represents the fifth addition to Robinson’s squad during the summer transfer window as the club continues to strengthen its roster with an eye on domestic success and improved performances across all competitions.

Born in London and eligible to represent Nigeria, Olusanya has enjoyed a career spanning English football and Major League Soccer before making the move north of the border.

The permanent transfer offers him the opportunity to continue his development in a familiar environment after settling into the team during his loan period.

For Aberdeen, retaining a player who already understands the club’s style and expectations provides continuity as they reshape the squad for the new season.

Supporters will be eager to see the Nigerian forward translate his promising displays into consistent goals and assists over the course of the campaign.

With his future now secured at Pittodrie, Olusanya begins the next chapter of his career aiming to establish himself as a key figure in Aberdeen’s attack and help the club compete strongly in the Scottish Premiership.

Continue Reading

Trending