Africa’s First Humanoid Robot ‘Omeife’ to Be Unveiled in Nigeria

Powered by locally-developed AI algorithms, the robot is reported to be able to switch between eight popular languages in the continent: English, Arabic, French, Kiswahili, Pidgin, Wazobia, Afrikaans, and Igbo. It can also interact with well-known gestures in African culture and even be rude!

A human-like robot named Omeife is set to be unveiled in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja on Friday. It is the first developed in Africa, and was built by Abuja-based Uniccon Group, one of the country’s fastest-growing tech startups established in 2020.

Omeife is set to grace the “Future of Artificial Intelligence in the African Tech Ecosystem” event that is expected to be attended by regional tech leaders, diplomats, and Nigerian government officials, including the minister of communication.

It was designed as an Igbo female capable of speaking eight of the most spoken languages in Africa, along with a deep understanding of African culture and behavioral patterns.

The robot can also understand and interact with specific gestures, including smiling, hand illustrations and other bodily gestures that match the situation and the tone of conversation. It’s also aware of words, phrases and sentences that are considered impolite in African culture.

Discussion awareness and real-time understanding, along with politeness and knowledge in various fields and being always teachable, are among the features that make Omeife special. Omeife can identify human faces and expressions, pay attention to a specific item when it’s required, identify objects and their characteristics, and calculate the position and distance of items it sees.

The six-foot multilingual humanoid, as well as its AI algorithms, were developed by Uniccon Group’s StemFocus Robotics Lab in Abuja within two years. The multipurpose robot was first presented during the latest Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) in October in Dubai, UAE.

“Through Omeife and our projects we are happy to play a part in helping businesses and people all over Africa to achieve their fullest potential by providing access to the most innovative technologies for efficiency,” said Chucks Ekwuene, Uniccon Group CEO.

On October 19, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Nigeria Startup Act, a joint initiative by Nigeria’s tech startup ecosystem and the government to boost the country’s tech industry. Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Pantami described the signing of the act as “a major achievement that will significantly enhance the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Nigeria.”