The innovative AI is designed to think directly in Swahili, rather than translating from English, and to perform practical, real-world tasks for African users.
AXIAN Telecom participated in the first public demonstration of an open Swahili-native reasoning AI model at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona 2026. The innovative AI is designed to think directly in Swahili, rather than translating from English, and to perform practical, real-world tasks for African users.
The Group CTIO, Jérôme Albou, represented Yas alongside partners from across the continent, highlighting the potential of sovereign, local-language AI to close the digital language gap and better reflect African cultures, contexts, and needs.
Developed in collaboration with partners from the GSMA African LLM initiative, the Swahili model goes beyond simple chat functionalities. It can search the web, analyze information in both Swahili and English, and generate structured outputs such as business plans and spreadsheets—offering powerful support for SMEs, public services, and digital inclusion across East Africa and beyond.
As Yas, AXIAN Telecom reaffirmed its commitment to advancing AI rooted in African languages, serving local communities, and shaping a more inclusive digital future for the continent.
