{"id":1170164,"date":"2026-05-05T19:54:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T02:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-academic-program&p=1170164"},"modified":"2026-05-05T19:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T02:54:21","slug":"lingua-africa-open-call-for-inclusive-ai-language-projects","status":"publish","type":"msr-academic-program","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/academic-program\/lingua-africa-open-call-for-inclusive-ai-language-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"LINGUA Africa Open Call for Inclusive AI Language Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n

Empowering inclusive AI through open language resources<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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LINGUA Africa Open Call for Inclusive AI Language Projects<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Across Africa, thousands of languages remain underrepresented in modern AI systems. When languages are not well represented in datasets, models, and tools, communities face barriers to accessing education, healthcare information, public services, financial inclusion, and other opportunities increasingly shaped by digital technologies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help address this gap, Microsoft AI for Good Lab, the Gates Foundation, the Masakhane African Languages Hub, and Google.org are joining forces to launch LINGUA Africa, an open call designed to strengthen the language foundations needed for inclusive AI in Africa.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cLINGUA Africa seeks to encourage bold and innovative thinking by breaking down barriers that have long held back AI progress across the continent\u2014vital access to data, computational power, and technical assistance. With these resources unlocked, I am truly excited to witness the transformative innovations that will emerge from this initiative.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\u2014<\/em> Howard Lakougna, Senior Program Officer, Gates Foundation<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Our commitment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

LINGUA Africa builds on lessons from LINGUA Europe, which supported open datasets and evaluation resources for underrepresented European languages. For Africa, we are taking that approach a step further by prioritizing projects that connect open language resources to real-world use cases and community outcomes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is in partnership with Masakhane African Languages hub, who have been stewarding the African NLP ecosystem grounded in community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe future of AI must be shaped by the people it serves. This opportunity provides much needed resourcing in the form of funding and compute to enable African led AI solutions with a lasting impact on enabling access to relevant tools for day to day needs.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\u2014<\/em> Chenai Chair, Director of Masakhane African Languages Hub<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n<\/div>

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Inbal Becker-Reshef, Managing Director, AI for Good Lab, highlighted the importance of language in translating innovation into real-world use:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAI only delivers value when people can actually use it, and language is the bridge. For example, in agriculture, farmers increasingly rely on digital advisory services for crop management and market information. If that guidance isn\u2019t available in a language they understand, it fails to translate into action. This applies across sectors, from healthcare to education. LINGUA Africa is an important step toward grounding innovation in real-world impact by supporting community-led efforts and enabling people to act on critical information in their own languages<\/em><\/em>.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Who Should Apply<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The open call will invite proposals from nonprofits, universities, research institutes, social enterprises, cultural organizations, startups, and consortia working in the public interest. We strongly encourage collaborative proposals that bring together complementary organizations and capabilities, particularly where partnerships can deepen community engagement, cross-domain expertise, and pathways to impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Applications are open to organizations both based in Africa and outside Africa, provided they demonstrate meaningful partnership with Africa-based institutions, communities, or implementers where relevant.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selected projects will be eligible for funding support, Azure compute credits and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) credits, in-kind technical collaboration from Microsoft AI for Good Lab, and additional collaboration opportunities through the broader LINGUA Africa ecosystem.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Grant Categories<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We welcome proposals focused on the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n