Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming economies, public services, and access to information worldwide. However, in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, there is a risk that AI will exacerbate rather than reduce existing inequalities.

One of the most important and least recognized factors contributing to exclusion is language. In West Africa, and particularly in fragile and crisis-affected contexts such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, and parts of Guinea, the following applies to a large proportion of women and girls:

• They have limited or no formal education.
• They are functionally or quasi-illiterate in English.
• They rely almost exclusively on spoken indigenous languages, especially Krio, the lingua franca in Sierra Leone.

Language is not a deficit, but an untapped asset.
In many African contexts, oral communication is the predominant form of learning, trust building, and decision-making.

Advances in language-based AI, speech recognition, and large language models now make it technically possible to develop AI systems that:

• understand and respond to indigenous languages
• function via speech rather than text operate in environments with

low bandwidth or offline environments.

Despite the widespread use of mobile phones, access to meaningful digital services for young women and girls remains limited.

Most digital platforms, AI tools, and learning resources are:

• text-heavy
• primarily designed in English
• dependent on a stable internet connection

As a result, women and girls—especially those who have dropped out of school early—are largely excluded from:

• developing digital skills
• AI knowledge
• economic and professional opportunities related to digital transformation

This exclusion directly contradicts global commitments under:

SDG 5 (gender equality)

SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth)

SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure)

SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities)

It also contradicts the principles of the Hamburg Declaration on Responsible AI for the SDGs, in particular the call to expand access to AI education and benefits for women and girls.

This initiative goes beyond the translation or localization of existing tools. Its innovation lies in the following points:

• Development of AI for oral societies, not adaptation of text-based systems
• Treatment of indigenous languages as central digital infrastructure
• Combining principles for responsible AI with gender-transformative programming

Positioning AI in indigenous languages as a digital public good

Seeking support for the development and testing of a voice-controlled AI application in Krio, tailored to women and girls with low levels of education, in order to:

1. improve the AI literacy and digital confidence of marginalized women and girls
2. enable access to practical information and skills related to livelihoods, health, and social protection
3. develop a scalable and replicable model for AI in indigenous languages in West Africa