From DSFSI to AfriDSAI: A New Chapter Begins

Over the past few years, our community at the Data Science for Social Impact (DSFSI) research group has worked tirelessly to create a space for meaningful, African-led, socially grounded AI and Data Science research. Today, I’m honoured to share the next chapter (2 years in the making) i in this journey:

🎉 The African Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AfriDSAI) is now officially launched at the University of Pretoria — and we begin a bold new phase of research and ecosystem building across the continent.

AfriDSAI has been catalysed by a $1 million USD gift from Google.org, who believe in our shared vision for an Africa where innovation in AI and Data Science shapes a better future.

You can read their announcement here:
👉 Google Blog: Supporting the Future of AI Research in Africa and Globally

DSFSI: A Living Mission

Since its inception, DSFSI has been guided by the mission:

“Data-driven collaborative innovation to empower society to tackle challenges and preserve our languages.”

Guided by this, DSFSI has become one of the most active research groups working on African NLP — building tools for low-resource languages, producing new datasets, mentoring the next generation of researchers, and leading global conversations on responsible, locally grounded AI.

Let me be clear: DSFSI isn’t going anywhere. It will continue to pursue its mission, push new frontiers, and nurture critical conversations about data, AI, and African society.

Why AfriDSAI? A Wider Scope, A Continental Vision

AfriDSAI is not a replacement for DSFSI. It is a natural evolution — an expansion to meet the growing demand for deeper, broader, and more institutionalised work across the African AI and Data Science ecosystem.

Where DSFSI focuses on language and social impact, AfriDSAI expands our collective reach into health, agriculture, climate, governance, and other critical domains — all through transdisciplinary, African-grounded research.

The recent visit of Prof. Judy Gichoya , a leader in medical AI and responsible innovation, reminded us how powerful and necessary these transdisciplinary collaborations are. AfriDSAI is designed to sustain and scale that kind of work.

A Community Effort

This moment was made possible by many hands and minds. To all DSFSI students, staff, postdocs, alumni, and collaborators — thank you. Your belief in this work made this institute possible.

We are very thankful for the support of the Future Professors Program and the African Research Funding Accelerator team who helped refine our ideas and get them ready to meet the world.

Gratitude also goes to our professional staff and academic members who helped carry the admin and operational load as we transitioned toward launching AfriDSAI.

We are deeply thankful to Google University Relations for five years of partnership — from compute credits to funding projects that helped us reach this moment. AfriDSAI builds on that strong foundation.

We’re equally thrilled that the AfriDSAI announcement arrives alongside the launch of the Masakhane African Languages AI Hub, the next phase of Masakhane Research Foundation — a long-time ally and initiative we’ve proudly supported.

What’s Next?

We are finalising our first AfriDSAI Fellowship Programme call, which will enable staff/faculty and student partnerships. We look forward to sharing these opportunities soon.

📬 For updates, subscribe to the DSUP Newsletter
🌐 Visit the AfriDSAI website: https://www.up.ac.za/afridsai 🤝 Interested in partnering or supporting AfriDSAI? Please get in touch.

This moment is about growth.
From DSFSI’s strong roots, AfriDSAI branches out to imagine and build the future of African AI — together, and on our own terms.

– Prof. Vukosi Marivate
Director, AfriDSAI
Leader, Data Science for Social Impact Research Group