Setlhare se se nonofileng — the tree that endures.

An AI lab,
rooted in Botswana.

We build intelligent products for Botswana and Southern Africa — in our languages, for our learners, grounded in our knowledge. From a Setswana programming language to applied AI for the institutions that matter here.

See what we're building → Our vision for 2030
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01What we do

Three roots, one canopy.

The mopane survives where little else does — drought, heat, thin soil — because its roots run deep and its leaves fold to conserve what matters. We build the same way: deep local foundations, then broad reach across the region.

Flagship

Bopa

A Setswana programming language for kids and creators. Code in your mother tongue, watch it come alive as visual art. Education that doesn't ask children to translate themselves first.

Applied

Applied AI

Practical AI systems for the sectors that move Botswana — public services, agriculture, health, and SMEs — built to work on local infrastructure and local realities.

Research

Language & Knowledge

Open models and datasets for Setswana and Southern African languages — so the next generation of AI speaks to, and learns from, this region instead of overlooking it.

02Flagship · Bopa

Coding, in your
own language.

Bopa transpiles Setswana into JavaScript and renders it visually with p5.js. A child writes a few words of Setswana — and a shape, a colour, a moving world appears. "Bopa" means to create, to shape, to mould.

letlhare.bopa
# Bopa letlhare — draw a leaf
dira setup() {
  khanvasi(400, 400)
  mmala("mopane")
}

dira draw() {
  sutisa(200, 200)
  go tswa i mo 0 go ya 12 {
    dikologa(30)
    lephakô(i * 8)
  }
}
"A nation that can only consume technology will always wait. We intend for Botswana to build it."
03The long view

From diamonds
to data.

Botswana built a nation on careful stewardship of one natural resource. The next is human and digital. Mopane exists to help make this country an AI powerhouse — not as a slogan, but as a sequence.

NOW

Build & prove

Ship Bopa into classrooms. Establish credibility with real products, not decks.

NEXT

Anchor locally

Register with BDIH, win non-dilutive funding, and partner across the ecosystem.

2028

Regional reach

Scale across SADC and AfCFTA markets — same languages, same problems.

2030

Sovereign AI

Local models, local talent, local infrastructure. AI that belongs to the region.