Introduction

With the rapid adoption of AI around the world, there is a need for Africans and African languages to be represented properly. What better way to do this than through Africans building AI technology for Africans? Spitch has unlocked the power of speech processing for Africans with cutting-edge, reliable voice technology in African languages.

When you think of speech processing, the average African thinks of Siri, Cortana, and Chat-GPT, and while these technologies are great, they are not entirely inclusive of Africans. With over 3,000 languages, only 13% of Africans speak English, and just 1-2% speak it as their first language. This lack of inclusivity, and many other factors hinder the adoption of AI in Africa and promote the extinction of our culture.

A few years ago, we had no choice but to accept that AI could not understand our native African languages. But now, Spitch has changed that! With the Spitch API, people who don’t speak English can access a wealth of information online without needing to learn a new language. This opens up endless opportunities for businesses and organizations to connect with more people across Africa.

In this blog, we introduce Spitch as a language company building voice technology for African languages, the speech solutions offered by Spitch, the use cases of the software, and to round things up, you will be given an insight into the future of speech AI with Spitch. In the next section of this blog, we will be taking a deeper dive into Spitch.

What is Spitch?

Spitch

Spitch, founded by Temi Babs in 2022, is a language technology company focused on developing small language models for African languages. From translation to transcription, diacritization and speech generation, Spitch is breaking language barriers and making AI-powered communication more accessible and inclusive. Currently, Spitch provides language support for Nigerian Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo, with plans for strategic expansion into additional languages to enhance market reach and inclusivity.

Spitch is a unique company that uses AI to help bridge the digital divide in Africa. What sets Spitch apart from other platforms are its easy-to-use APIs and innovative speech solutions. In the next part of this blog, we'll talk about the four powerful speech technology solutions Spitch offers in the Spitch Playground.

Speech Generation (Text-to-Speech)

Also known as Text-To-Speech (TTS). Spitch’s speech generation feature can convert text in English, Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo into speech. Additionally, there are a variety of voices available for each language (4 options for each language). To get started with this feature, head over to our docs.

Some of the applications of the Spitch speech generation feature are:

1. AI-Powered Text-to-Speech: You can use this to convert text into realistic speech in African languages, enhancing chatbots, virtual assistants, and customer service interactions.

2. Application Accessibility: Spitch’s TTS feature can be applied to improve digital accessibility for visually impaired users by enabling screen readers and voice-based interactions.

3. Voice Assistants & IVR Systems: The speech generation feature can power AI-driven customer support systems in African languages, making interactive voice response (IVR) systems more inclusive.

Transcription (Speech-to-Text)

Also known as Speech-To-Text (STT), this feature can convert speech in any of its supported languages to text, and can alse be used to automate realtime audio transcription using the streaming service. More technical details about the Spitch transcription feature are available here.

Some of its applications are:

1. Realtime Audio Transcription & Captioning: The STT feature can convert spoken language into text for videos, meetings, and online lectures, improving accessibility for applications in media & entertainment, newscasting, digital marketing, and so on.

2. Text Transcription in Journalism: Journalists often spend a lot of time and resources transcribing interviews, press conferences, and reports manually. Spitch’s STT feature can automate this task easily.

3. Education & E-Learning: Support online learning by generating real-time transcripts for lectures, webinars, and educational materials.

Translation

This feature is used to convert from one language to another. Learn how to get started using this feature here.

Some of the applications of this feature are:

1. Multilingual Translation: This feature can be applied to translate text in foreign languages quickly into native African languages and vice-versa, making digital content accessible to a broader audience.

2. Content Creation: The translation feature can also assist content creators in localizing blogs, social media posts, and video subtitles into African languages.

3. Business & Customer Support: Firms are not excluded from this innovation. They can apply this feature in expanding their services to African and foreign markets by enabling them to offer multilingual customer service.

Tone Marking

The tone Marking or diacritics feature is used to apply tones to text in a given language. In reality, many African languages are tonal. These tones define how certain letters and syllables are pronounced, and they also impact the meaning of words. In writing, this is indicated by certain marks which can help the reader (human or computer) to pronounce such text properly.

To learn more about our tone marking feature, head over to our docs.

Some of the applications of this feature are:

1. Diacritics Restoration: The tone marking feature can restore missing tone markers in text, making written content more readable and accurate.

2. Language Education & Learning: Proper knowledge of diacritics is necessary for speaking and writing many languages globally. With the feature, students and language learners can get help understanding pronunciation and meaning differences in tonal languages.

3. Strengthening Language Preservation: This feature can also help to digitally document and preserve endangered African languages and ensure their correct representation in AI models.

   
   

Spitch Use Cases

Spitch’s inclusive API welcomes developers and entrepreneurs alike with reliable API integration for voice and text-driven applications for developers, and automated language translation and customer service for businesses. Some of these specific use cases are:

Customer Support & Call Centers

Conventionally, customer support personnel are often tasked with speaking to a myriad of people each day, and in Africa, a huge chunk of these people are not native English speakers. This usually poses an issue to the customer support process flow, and can even frustrate the most determined support personnel.

By combining Spitch’s speech generation, translation, and transcription features with a suitable virtual assistant or copilot, customer support & call centre systems in companies can be completely automated.

Audiobooks & Storytelling

How many people in Africa would love to enjoy literature like Shakespeare and Oliver Twist but can't because they don’t speak English? The truth is, we don’t know, but we do know that language barriers continue to limit access to great books.

Right now, there are very few audiobooks available in African languages, leaving millions without the opportunity to experience literature in a language they understand. This gap makes it harder for non-English speakers to access knowledge and storytelling that many take for granted.

With Spitch’s API, audiobook platforms can bridge this gap by enabling translations and speech generation in African languages. This not only allows more people to experience global literature but also brings African stories to a wider audience, preserving and promoting indigenous languages on a global scale.

AI-Powered Radio & News Broadcasting

Spitch has a huge opportunity to transform the radio and news industry. One key area is multilingual news translation. Media organizations can use Spitch’s STT and translation features to broadcast the same news in multiple languages, making information more accessible to diverse audiences.

Another game-changer is automated interview transcription. With Spitch, interviews with non-English speakers can be transcribed into English instantly, eliminating the high costs and delays of manual transcription. Beyond this, Spitch can also support real-time captions for live broadcasts, and audio content repurposing, helping media outlets reach a wider audience and enhance accessibility.

The Future of Speech AI with Spitch

As artificial intelligence continues to shape how we interact with technology, speech processing remains a key area of innovation—especially for underrepresented languages. Spitch is at the forefront of advancing AI-powered speech processing for African languages, tackling unique linguistic challenges and paving the way for a more inclusive digital future.

While this could be a potential game-changer for the African tech field, here are some potential advancements we should be on the lookout for.

What’s Next? Potential Advancements

1. Better Dialect Recognition: African languages often have multiple dialects that differ in pronunciation and word usage. Future advancements in Spitch’s Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) models will enable accurate recognition of diverse dialects, ensuring users get high-precision transcriptions.

   
   

2. Improved Text-to-Speech (TTS) Quality: Many TTS systems struggle to capture the natural intonations and rhythms of African languages. Spitch is working towards more lifelike and expressive TTS voices, which could enhance accessibility, audiobooks, and virtual assistants in local languages.

   
   

3. AI-Driven Language Preservation: Several African languages are risk disappearing due to low digital representation. AI-powered solutions like Spitch can document and digitize endangered languages, helping to preserve cultural heritage for future generations.

Concluding Remarks

Spitch is leading the charge in inclusive voice technology for Africa, breaking barriers and transforming industries. With its developer-friendly APIs, top-tier documentation, and intuitive Playground, Spitch is the go-to platform for businesses and developers looking to build the future of speech AI.

For investors and venture capitalists, this is your chance to be part of the next big revolution in African tech. Let us shape the future together. Schedule a call with us today and explore the endless possibilities.

Thanks for reading, and remember—the future is Spitch!