Mansa Translate Wins ALCA Rising Star Award and Advances African Language Technology

All Lab is honored to share that Mansa Translate has been named the Rising Star of 2025 at the ALCA Conference in Cape Town. The award recognizes our work in building AI tools that support African languages with cultural accuracy and real-world usability. This achievement reflects the dedication of our team and the communities we serve, and it underscores the growing importance of African language technology on the continent and beyond.

A Recognition Rooted in Innovation and Community

The Association of Language Companies in Africa (ALCA) celebrates innovators who are reshaping language services across the continent through creativity, technology, and resilience. This year, All Lab’s Mansa Translate was awarded the Rising Star Award, a proud moment for our team and the communities we serve.

Standing among pioneers advancing African language services was inspiring. The conference atmosphere reflected a shared commitment to elevating African languages, transforming workflows, and creating impactful tools for a multilingual continent.

Standing Among Africa’s Language Technology Pioneers

Our team joined conversations on the future of language services, localization, and translation in Africa. Sheriff Issaka contributed to a panel on Perspectives on Language Technology and Market Needs in Africa, alongside experts shaping how language technologies evolve on the continent.

The discussion highlighted the growing demand for context-aware AI, the challenges of scaling tools for underrepresented languages, and the need for solutions built with cultural nuance at their core.

The Rising Star Award recognizes what we care about most:

Building enterprise-grade tools for African languages: Mansa Translate is a culturally grounded, scalable, and context-aware platform supporting real-world applications across sectors.

Empowering communities through digital representation: Language is identity. Our work ensures African cultures and voices are represented accurately and respectfully.

Driving lasting impact across the continent: From education and media to business and public service, our tools create opportunity and access.

We are grateful to ACLA for this award, and share this recognition with every African language speaker and advocate working for linguistic equity. Mansa Translate’s Rising Star Award celebrates every African language and community striving for digital visibility, and strengthens our resolve to expand support for more languages and dialects, improve model quality and cultural intelligence, build scalable solutions, and collaborate with organizations committed to linguistic equity. This is only the beginning, the journey ahead holds even greater promise, and we are excited for what comes next.