10 Women Tech Founders in West Africa Building AI Startups & Shaping the Future

4. Adanma Ugwu – Nigeria

Founder & CEO, HiPrep

AI became a part of Adanma Ugwu’s life because of education and not through her professional background in technology. Having worked as a math teacher for several years, she developed HiPrep that is supposed to be a personalized learning system for Nigerian pupils. However, the company has switched to a digital format and has developed Lumi, which is an AI-based academic helper.

• Builds AI-powered personalised education

• Started from a teacher's classroom experience

• Focuses on individual learning gaps

The technique used by Adanma indicates a wider trend towards the incorporation of AI in education in Africa. The significance of HiPrep is more apparent when we consider the fact that this innovation is based on the experience gained by Ugwu through observing students failing in traditional classroom settings.

Her story is one that demonstrates how women entrepreneurs can use their practical experience to create technology solutions to daily challenges.

Also Read: AI Leadership: Women Leaders Share Strategies for Better AI Adoption

5. Juliet Chinenye Duru – Nigeria

Founder & Developer, AgriAI Insight and NaijaLearn-AI

Juliet Chinenye Duru is bringing together software engineering, academic research, and artificial intelligence to create two platforms in Nigeria. The self-developed platform, AgriAI Insight, uses information on crop type, rain fall, soil quality, and fertilizer application to predict yields in the six agro-climatic zones of Nigeria.

• Builds AI for agriculture and education

• Covers all 36 Nigerian states and the FCT

• Supports five languages through NaijaLearn-AI

The second startup by Juliet is NaijaLearn-AI, which is an AI chatbot tutor built on the basis of the Nigerian educational curriculum. It uses English, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, and Nigerian Pidgin, and operates in low bandwidth areas.

Juliet’s case illustrates the possibility to develop locally oriented AI startups in Africa, as they do not import generic technologies but build something specific to the country's agriculture, languages, and communication facilities.

6. Sokhna Diarra Diouf – Senegal

Founder, SENPASSIA

Sokhna Diarra Diouf is yet another element in the developing community of women in the field of artificial intelligence; she helps organizations comprehend, implement, and regulate the use of artificial intelligence. An engineer and a data scientist from Senegal, Diouf started the SENPASSIA organization in order to use her expertise in this field in practice.

• Works across data, AI and governance

• Connects African organisations with AI expertise

• Advocates responsible AI adoption

Her operations range from Africa to Europe and other global markets, with SENPASSIA establishing its presence based on issues of AI governance and development. Diouf has been part of several global debates such as the UN Summit of the Future, the AI for Good Summit, and AI governance debates.

Despite SENPASSIA being different from typical product-based AI ventures, her story sheds light on a crucial trend among African women in tech: founding companies that assist organizations in implementing AI.