dataforge-africa/dataforge-africa-nlp

# DataForge Africa NLP ### Algorithm-First Language Intelligence for Africa --- ## Overview **DataForge Africa NLP** is an open, algorithm-first foundation for building **trustworthy, explainable, and inclusive language systems for African languages**. This project exists because African languages are often: - excluded from mainstream NLP tooling - treated as “low-resource” by default - forced to conform to foreign linguistic assumptions We believe African languages deserve **engineering rigor, not approximation**. --- ## Why This Project Exists Most NLP systems are: - model-first - opaque - dependent on large datasets and paid APIs DataForge Africa NLP takes a different path: - **Algorithm-first before AI-first** - **Deterministic and explainable by default** - **Inclusive of real-world typing and linguistic variation** - **Designed for education, public services, and community use** This makes the project suitable for: - learners and educators - NGOs and public institutions - researchers and practitioners - low-resource and low-connectivity environments --- ## Core Principles This project is guided by the 📜 **DataForge Africa NLP Manifesto** Key principles include: - African languages are first-class citizens - Normalize for people, not keyboards - Determinism before probabilistic behavior - Trust and safety over fluency - Education is a core output Every contribution and design decision is evaluated against these principles. --- ## Project Structure ```text dataforge_africa/ ├── nlp/ │ ├── normalization.py │ └── __init__.py │ ├── __init__.py │ .github/ ├── ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md ├── PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md │ MANIFESTO.md CONTRIBUTING.md CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md README.md