A new wave of digital innovation is emerging from Africa as technology company Gebeya Inc. unveils Gebeya Dala, an AI-powered app builder designed specifically for the African market. The platform aims to redefine how Africans create technology — removing long-standing barriers to software development and enabling users to build fully functional apps simply by describing their ideas in their own languages.
The launch marks a major milestone in Gebeya’s mission to make digital creation accessible to everyone, from students and farmers to entrepreneurs and small business owners. The company says the platform’s design reflects Africa’s diverse linguistic and economic landscape — a world where smartphone access is widespread, but coding knowledge, credit cards, and foreign exchange access often remain limited.
“While the world is excited about ‘Vibe Coding,’ the conversation misses a crucial point: the existing tools aren’t built for us,” said Amadou Daffe, CEO and Co-Founder of Gebeya. “We built Gebeya Dala to address the real challenges Africans face every day — localisation, accessibility, the lack of credit cards, the barrier of forex, and the fundamental need to build in your own language. This is more than a product; it’s a milestone in our mission to unlock the next wave of African innovation.”
Unlike global AI-assisted coding tools, Gebeya Dala has been built to understand and respond in multiple African languages including Amharic, Swahili, Hausa, Arabic, Lingala, Zulu, and others. Users can describe their app ideas naturally, and the platform’s AI interprets those instructions, generating complete, deployable applications.
Developed by a team led by Gebeya’s Head of Infrastructure, Kaleab Girma, Gebeya Dala takes a mobile-first approach — allowing creators to design, code, and launch their digital products directly from a smartphone. This feature is expected to be transformative in regions where laptops and high-end computers are rare, but mobile penetration is among the highest in the world.
“We have built the engine for digital creation. Now, we need partners who can help us put it in the hands of every aspiring African innovator,” said Kaleab. “Together, we can ensure that the 14-year-old in a remote village with a big idea and a basic phone has the same power to create as anyone else in the world.”
Gebeya Dala is currently in its beta phase, with early testers already validating its potential. The company aims to onboard 30,000 users by the end of the year, with a longer-term goal of reaching one million teenagers and adults across the continent.
To achieve this, Gebeya has issued a call for strategic partnerships with educational institutions, EdTech firms, telecom operators, youth empowerment NGOs, and government agencies. The goal is to integrate Gebeya Dala into classrooms, youth programmes, and digital transformation initiatives — ensuring that the next generation of African innovators can build solutions relevant to their communities.
Gebeya’s vision is clear: to catalyse Africa’s transformation from a consumer of technology into a creator of it. “The solutions for Africa’s greatest challenges will be built by Africans, for Africans,” Daffe said.
Gebeya Dala is now live, with the company inviting the wider Gebeya community to explore the platform and provide feedback to shape its evolution.