The Natural Language Processing (NLP) Hub is a research and innovation hub within the School of Computing and Engineering Sciences (SCES) at Strathmore University.
The Hub advances research, innovation, and capacity building in language technologies, with particular emphasis on African languages, responsible artificial intelligence, and solutions grounded in local needs and contexts.
Bringing together faculty, students, and collaborators, the Hub works to develop language resources, intelligent systems, research publications, and practical applications that contribute to the advancement of language technologies in Africa.
Through research, collaboration, and mentorship, the NLP Hub seeks to strengthen Africa’s capacity to shape the future of language technology.
To be a leading African hub for research and innovation in language technologies, advancing inclusive, responsible, and contextually relevant artificial intelligence for African languages and communities.
To advance research, innovation, and capacity building in natural language processing by developing African language resources, intelligent systems, and responsible AI solutions; nurturing emerging researchers and innovators; and fostering collaboration to address locally relevant challenges and contribute to society.
Developing datasets, corpora, benchmarks, and other language resources to support research and technology development for African languages, particularly low-resource languages.
Exploring computational approaches to understanding, processing, and generating human language, with a focus on challenges and opportunities within African linguistic contexts.
Investigating machine learning and deep learning approaches for language technologies, including the development, adaptation, evaluation, and fine-tuning of large language models for African languages.
Developing technologies that enable machines to understand and interact through speech, text, and other forms of communication, including conversational systems and multimodal AI applications.
Promoting the responsible development and deployment of language technologies through research into fairness, inclusivity, accessibility, ethics, and the societal impact of AI.
Applying NLP and AI to address real-world challenges and opportunities in areas such as education, public policy, accessibility, information access, and other sectors relevant to African communities.
The NLP Hub supports an environment where research, learning, and practical innovation intersect.
Its activities include:
The Hub provides opportunities for students and researchers to engage with emerging technologies while contributing to the development of locally relevant knowledge and solutions.
The Hub's work is expected to contribute to the development of:
Datasets, corpora, benchmarks, and other resources that support research and innovation in African language technologies.
Language models, machine learning systems, software tools, and other technologies designed to address challenges in low-resource and African language contexts.
Peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers, technical reports, and other scholarly contributions to the global NLP research community.
Undergraduate and graduate research projects, prototypes, and practical applications developed through mentorship and collaborative research.
Where appropriate, the Hub aims to contribute open datasets, benchmarks, models, and research tools that can support the wider African NLP and AI research community.
Collaboration and knowledge exchange are essential to advancing language technologies for African contexts.
During a Hack Week hosted by Prof. Vukosi Marivate and the Data Science for Social Impact Research Group at the University of Pretoria, Kevin Omondi presented research on “Fine-Tuning for Low-Resourced African Languages.”
The engagement reflects the Hub's commitment to exchanging expertise, strengthening connections across Africa's NLP research community, and advancing inclusive language technologies that respond to local needs.
This section can later grow into an Activities and Engagements section where we add:
That will make the page feel alive instead of being just a static description.
The NLP Hub welcomes opportunities to collaborate with:
Collaborations will be developed around shared research interests, complementary expertise, and a sustained commitment to advancing language technologies for African contexts.
Potential areas of collaboration include joint research, dataset development, AI model development, student mentorship, knowledge exchange, capacity building, and practical applications of language technologies.
PhD Candidate in Computer Science
Kevin Omondi leads the Natural Language Processing Hub and coordinates its research, collaboration, and capacity-building activities.
Email: komondi@strathmore.edu
PhD Candidate in Computer Science
Lecturer
Lecturer
Graduate Assistant
Doctoral Fellow
The NLP Hub welcomes researchers, students, and organisations interested in contributing to the advancement of African language technologies.
Whether through collaborative research, student mentorship, dataset development, responsible AI, or practical applications of NLP, there are opportunities to contribute to a growing research community focused on developing technologies that respond to African contexts.
Kevin Omondi
PhD Candidate in Computer Science
School of Computing and Engineering Sciences
Strathmore University
Email: komondi@strathmore.edu