Business and Technology Reporter in Nairobi, Kenya
Nation Media Group
Kikuyu, Somali and Oromo are the Kenyan languages among the new indigenous African dialects now available on Google Search and Translate as the tech giant increases its focus on expanding the continent’s access to technology.
Google has announced the addition of 15 more African languages to its translation platform, connecting over 300 million more Africans to the service, which can now translate from over 94 languages globally to a total of 25 local mother tongues on the continent.
Kenyan-spoken languages already on the translation service include Kiswahili and Luo, which Google's Kenya office says are more widely spoken than the newly added ones.
“Google is also expanding its offering on Voice Search and Gboard in Kenya with the addition of Kikuyu, alongside Swahili - as well as for wider East and Southern Africa,” said Google in a statement.
The addition of the new languages means that people can now search Google or view websites in their local dialects, and even use Google's recently launched voice search in their mother tongue.
Kikuyu is only currently available on voice search and GBoard – Google’s customisable input keyboard for Android phones, meaning users can now use the language to search the internet on Google.
Kikuyu is the most widely spoken indigenous language in Kenya, with around 8.1 million speakers. Somali is spoken by 2.8 million people in Kenya, but by over 27 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.
Oromo is a Cushitic language mostly spoken in Ethiopia, but has about half a million speakers in Kenya, mostly in the northern parts of the country.
Other languages added to Translate include Burundi’s Rundi, Tingrinya and Amharic in Ethiopia, Chichewa in Malawi and Nigeria’s Igbo, Yoruba, and Pidgin – an urban slang.
“This technology will make a difference to over 300 million more people across the continent - enabling them to interact with the web with just their voice,” said Google’s managing director of Africa, Alex Okosi.
Matt Brittin, Google’s president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the move is part of the firm’s initiative to make technology more accessible to Africans as more people are expected to access the internet across the continent.
