Product
Why the products we build speak Swahili
Translation isn’t a feature you add at the end. It decides who can use the product at all.
Fanisi Technologies, 15 October 2026, 3 min read
Knotly is available in Swahili, English and French. The Tenga dashboard describes itself in both Swahili and English. That isn’t decoration. A wedding invitation goes to grandparents as well as cousins abroad, and a laundry dashboard is used by the people who run the shop, whichever language they prefer.
Language is a reach decision
A product only in English quietly chooses its users. Many of the people we build for read Swahili more comfortably, especially on a phone and in a hurry. If the button says something they have to stop and think about, they don’t press it.
How we do it
- Every word on screen lives in a translation file from day one, never hard-coded.
- We write in plain language first, so it translates cleanly.
- Dates, money and phone numbers follow local formats.
Building this in from the start costs little. Adding it later means touching every screen.