Betelhem Dessie’s Company Is Teaching AI to Understand Ethiopian Languages

By Mintesinot Nigussie
Published on 12/08/25

Betelhem Dessie has over 15 years of experience at just 27, not as an employee, but running her own show in one of the toughest fields out there: tech. A little project she started to cover her ninth birthday gave her her first taste of exposure, and now she’s one of Ethiopia’s top AI figures, teaching and inspiring people around the world. Back in high school, she and her classmates launched an edtech startup called Askuala, a school management platform that won a 50,000 birr prize. The idea hasn’t fully taken off in the country yet, but at the time, they were ahead of the curve. Even as a child, she worked with top government and private companies, including INSA and Tecno, gaining experience that would shape her remarkable journey.

Betelhem later co-founded iCog Anyone Can Code (iCog‑ACC) in partnership with iCog Labs, Ethiopia’s first AI and robotics research lab, where she previously worked as an intern. iCog‑ACC focuses on training children and youth in coding, robotics, and artificial intelligence, aiming to expand access to technology education across the country. She aims to ignite the same curiosity and excitement she felt at her first line of code in the next generation of Ethiopian technologists.

But the road proved challenging as she tried to reach local communities, mainly due to limited infrastructure and uneven access to technology across the country. “Many schools do not have enough computers, and the ones they have are often not working. Some places do not have stable electricity or internet,” she told FSX Business. To address this, her team began assessing computer labs and fixing what they could before delivering training. “Maintenance has unintentionally become a core part of our programs,” she said.

In addition, the team developed DigiTruck, a fully solar-powered mobile training center equipped with computers and robotics kits that can operate off-grid. The initiative allows children in remote areas to write their first lines of code regardless of electricity availability.

iCog‑ACC also trains teachers and has built a nationwide alumni network to keep programs running sustainably. As AI innovations grew, the initiative was rebranded to simply iCog, phasing out earlier programs like Solve IT, a nationwide innovation competition, and Lucy, an online coding platform, to focus fully on AI-driven education and tools.

Betelhem said iCog is now much more of a product-focused company. “Leyu is one of the products I’m most excited about. It’s an open-source platform for crowdsourcing datasets in Ethiopian languages, and we’ve been building it for over a year. We’ll be releasing it very soon,” she said. The platform focuses on languages like Amharic, Afaan Oromo, Tigrinya, Af-Somali, and Sidama, collecting and labeling text and speech through a mix of automated tools and local contributors, including youth and women. Alongside Leyu, iCog has also rolled out a large-scale training platform already used in nationwide programs, which they believe can help many organizations train thousands of people efficiently.

iCog has expanded into consultancy as well. Recently, they worked with GSMA on research analyzing the Ethiopian AI ecosystem. “Because we’ve spent years running large programs with young people, kids, and women, we can now advise others on making emerging technologies practical and relevant,” Bethelhem said

The company where she currently works as a chief advisor, iCog Labs, was buzzing a few years back when it got involved with Sophia, a social-humanoid robot developed by Hong Kong’s Hanson Robotics. Sophia is known for her lifelike expressions, conversational skills, and ability to show emotions. In July 2018, she visited Addis Ababa during the 2nd International ICT Expo, met Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and even spoke in Amharic, creating one of the most talked-about moments for AI and robotics in Ethiopia.

Betelhem said iCog Labs is now focused on decentralized AI tools and deep research. The team is exploring Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), experimenting with a new programming language from SingularityNET, and studying open-ended intelligence, systems that keep learning without limits , as well as how robots and AI can learn together.

Betelhem operates in a country shifting toward a more market-driven economy, opening sectors to foreign investment. At the same time, Ethiopia’s digital transformation, from Digital Ethiopia 2025 to Digital Ethiopia 2030, has boosted fintech and tech startups, registered millions with the Fayda national digital ID, digitized government services, and licensed over 3,000 new digital firms. The government has also set up the Ethiopian Artificial Intelligence Institute (EAII) and a national AI strategy to guide AI development across sectors.

Observers note that AI localisation remains a challenge in Ethiopia, where multiple languages are spoken. Amharic, the official language, is still “low-resource” in NLP, with limited digital text, annotated datasets, and computing resources, making it difficult for large language models trained on English and other high-resource languages to fully understand or generate accurate Amharic text.

Betelhem sees Ethiopia at a pivotal stage in AI adoption, citing the national AI strategy, the Ethiopian AI Institute, and growing investment in AI projects. “Regulations give us a good skeleton, but real success will come from implementation,” she said.

For her, localisation isn’t just about large language models, it’s about data: where it’s stored, how it’s labeled, and who can access it. Computing power is also a major constraint. Still, she remains cautiously optimistic that with stronger regulations and context-aware solutions, Ethiopia could see meaningful AI-driven impact sooner than many expect.

Observers say that without widespread digital literacy, Ethiopia could run into serious security and privacy issues. As more services, banking, and government processes move online, people and organizations who don’t know how to navigate digital platforms could be at risk of cyberattacks, fraud, or data leaks.

“The risk is real. Many people don’t really understand what data means, how it’s used, or how it affects their privacy,” Betelhem said. She added that digital literacy is already on the national radar, featuring in Digital Ethiopia 2025 and likely to stay a priority in 2030. “I’ve seen banks and financial institutions running digital literacy trainings for their customers and communities, so it’s not being ignored. What we really need now is consistent, strong follow-through.”

She also highlighted Ethiopia’s trusted community networks, self-help groups, youth advisory groups, women development armies, and local units like kebeles and woredas, as key channels to spread awareness. “Bringing training directly to communities can also help people learn quickly and safely,” she added.

Betelhem has spent years working to grow Ethiopia’s pool of young tech talent, helping students and newcomers build real, practical skills they can use in local innovation as well as outsourced work for international companies. She said Ethiopia has bright young people, but most need heavy training before they can take on global tasks. At iCog Labs, a lot of time goes into preparing interns, because strong talent takes long-term investment.

“most outsourced work coming to Ethiopia is junior-level, while senior engineering tasks stay abroad,” she said. “With AI coding tools rising, junior roles may face even tougher competition, which is something her team is studying through the EDGE program.”

Betelhem said Africa’s talent story mirrors what she sees in Ethiopia, full of potential but still maturing. “Everyone calls Africa the next big market because of the population boom and rising demand,” she said. “That’s all true, but only if we actually deliver value.”

She added that talent is crucial in tech since it’s a business of knowledge, not physical goods. “There’s plenty of raw talent across the continent, but it takes investment and patience to develop it into senior-level expertise,” she explained.

One of the biggest hurdles, she noted, is risk capital. Startups on the continent cannot afford long, expensive experimentation. Investors want proof, not promises, which makes scaling far tougher than in places like Silicon Valley.

Beyond running her own projects, Bethelhem has spent a lot of time helping startups grow, especially through her Solve IT programme that got young innovators building real tech solutions. She also holds seven patents.

Betelhem said leaders need to evolve, let go of ideas that don’t work, and face hard truths. “Many tech founders underestimate the business side,” she added. “Your product can be amazing, but unless you can sell it, communicate it, form partnerships, and manage your cash flow, it will not go anywhere. You need to be someone who can wear many hats.”

She also stressed that entrepreneurship takes grit. “You’ll hear a lot of no’s. You’ll have sleepless nights. There will be times when you don’t have money and days you’ll wonder how nice it must be to just get a salary every month. If you can handle the uncertainty, take the no’s, swallow criticism, keep moving, and stay hopeful even when nothing works, then you’re cut out for it. Believing in yourself is what carries you through.”