Obone AI: Melba Orlie Nzang Meyo, the pioneer of Gabonese AI that speaks Fang

Melba Orlie Nzang Meyo, 30, is a unique figure in African artificial intelligence, whose ambition is to give a digital voice to the languages of Central Africa and to put Gabonese research back at the centre of global innovation. A lecturer and researcher, she is the CEO of ZAIA Tech and the creator of Obone AI, the first Gabonese artificial intelligence with cultural roots.

A career founded on boldness and sovereignty

Melba Orlie's initial driving force was the promise she made to her parents to fight and to build. In Gabon, she discovered digital marketing at INSG and founded her first start-up, Y-Infinity Consulting (YINF), at the age of 20. Her time in Dakar for her studies (a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees in digital marketing and design/UX) revealed an obvious truth: Africa must equip itself with technological tools that reflect who it is.

The era of linguistic AI

• AWA in Senegal (2019): she co-designed and co-founded the AWA project within the start-up Andakia. AWA is the first Senegalese AI able to communicate in Wolof, affirming that African languages are a living heritage worthy of being digitised. This success convinced her that Africa has a duty to build AI in its own image.

• Driving force: a single mother of two, she turned her early motherhood into a driving force, determined to be a model of faith and resilience for young single mothers.

The return to Gabon and the birth of Obone AI

In 2024, Melba Orlie felt her country calling for a culturally rooted technology project. Her goal: to create an AI that speaks not only to French-speaking elites, but also to grandparents in the villages.

• National structuring: she founded the Gabonese Scientific Committee for Research on Artificial Intelligence (CSGRIA), a first in the country. In Libreville, she trained a first cohort of 12 young university students in data collection techniques, building linguistic corpora, ethics and AI scientific methodologies.

• Launch of Obone AI: in March 2025, ZAIA Tech launched Obone AI. It is the first Gabonese artificial intelligence designed around the languages of Central Africa. Obone can speak Fang, a Fang that has been scientifically designed, validated and structured with linguists from Omar Bongo University.

• Impact and vision: Obone AI is more than a product; it is a tool for digital inclusion and a model aligned with Gabon's strategic priorities (notably the PNCD 2026–2030). It is the promise that families in the villages also have a right to digital technology.

Influence and advocacy

Melba Orlie has helped structure the ecosystem by organising Gabon's first Virtual AI & Digital Forum in 2025 (more than 500 participants). She speaks at international conferences, carrying a message about AI, digital sovereignty and forest preservation.

In 2025, she received the Gabonese Woman in Innovation, Science & Technology Award, recognising her pioneering role and the strategic importance of African linguistic AI.