Universalizing knowledge for Africa and beyond

How it all started

The Batazia story begun when our CEO Barbara Gwanmesia was confronted with the language limitations that the popular the self-publishing platforms presented to her: they didn’t support books written in native African languages.

The seeds of Batazia, however, had been planted many years before that, when Barbara and her younger sister Ndipabonga, each went to school for the first time. As two young girls who grew up speaking their native language at home, they were both confronted with the major issue prevalent in almost all African countries: their first day in school was conducted in a language totally new to them –English. According to UNESCO:

“Africa is the only continent where the majority of children start school using a foreign language.”

Having both overcome this challenge, they firmly understood that this is a major challenge that many African children are facing. A challenge that they would one day hope to tackle. Fast forward to many years later - Barbara was now a linguistic, anthropological academician and Ndipa an advanced IT professional.

Triggered by this latest self-publishing language barrier, they joined hands to once and for all deal with this language barrier issue. Their plan: a platform and technology that will enable knowledge consumption and dissemination in indigenous African languages. Batazia was born.