Not Apple's Siri, Google Home, Amazon's Alexa nor any other speech platform can hear or respond to a single African language. But as speech interaction gradually takes over, basic functions from typing to touch, the non-profit Mozilla -- which created the free web browser Firefox -- is working to bring voice-integrated technology to the continent. Mozilla's Common Voice platform, which receives support from the German and UK governments, as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is an open-source initiative that's already creating the voice datasets for Kiswahili, a language that is spoken in Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Sudan. More good news: Mozilla recently received a $3.4 million grant to expand the Common Voice platform across Africa.

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