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Apply now for the exciting AI & African Music pilot project

- Wits University

The project aims to support ground-breaking music ideas that harness AI and champion African creativity, and build new futures for AI in music.

With a goal to build new futures for AI in music, shaped by African sounds, language and innovation, the AI & African Music project pilot invites applications from musicians across the continent.

Offering tangible financial, project management and technical assistance, the initiative will support musicians to develop unique, transformative ideas over a six-month process, culminating in a showcase event in Johannesburg in April 2026.

The project is hosted by the Wits Innovation Centre (WIC) in partnership with the Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute at Wits University and funded by Charles Goldstuck, a South African-born, USA-based music executive, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. All musicians, producers, composers, and music educators of African nationality, living in an African country, working in any genre are invited to apply. Projects can range from:

  • Using AI to co-create, perform and teach music in African traditions
  • Recording, transcribing and preserving African musical works — from oral heritage to digital formats
  • Reimagining local traditional, indigenous or contemporary genres
  • Building and localising AI tools that understand African sounds, languages, and workflows.

Selected awardees will receive ZAR 30,000 per month for four months and will be teamed with an AI engineer and a programme advisor to support project development. All teams will attend an industry exchange and launch workshop in early November 2025 as well as a project culmination showcase event in April 2026, both in Johannesburg at Wits University.

“As a dedicated partner to the continent’s music ecosystem, Billboard Africa is thrilled to support the Wits MIND Institute’s AI & African Music initiative. We’ve seen countless examples of how the marriage of African creativity and innovation not only propels culture forward, but also changes lives, and nowhere has this been more evident than across Africa’s vast and rich musical landscape. 

Technological projects which centre African creativity allow for more opportunities to transmit culture, to create new pathways for discovery and collaboration, and to influence the global music and creative industries. We look forward to supporting and amplifying the exciting work the candidates produce.”

– Nkosiyati Khumalo, Editor-in-Chief, Billboard Africa

Unlocking new forms of expression

AI & African Music, a pilot in a long-term strategic investment to develop an artificial intelligence and creative sector initiative within the Wits MIND Institute, is set to unveil ground-breaking music innovation ideas and contribute to transformation for creators.

The project is driven by Professor Christo Doherty of the Wits Innovation Centre and MIND Director, Professor Benjamin Rosman, and takes interdisciplinary research and innovation straight to those on the front lines of the music industry.

“African musical creativity offers tonalities, textures, and traditions that challenge and expand today’s AI tools—most of which are trained on Western data. This project takes a bold step toward placing African creators at the centre of global technological transformation.”

– Professor Christo Doherty, Acting Angela and David Fine Chair in Innovation, Wits Innovation Centre

“The MIND Institute is committed to driving homegrown innovation that reflects Africa’s diverse cultural landscape. Through this project, we’re not just participating in the global AI conversation—we’re leading it. By supporting musicians to experiment with AI, we’re unlocking new forms of expression and ensuring Africa is a creator, not just a consumer, in the future of artificial intelligence.”

– Professor Benjamin Rosman, Director, Wits MIND Institute

 

 

Apply now!

AI & African Music pilot project

 

 

About the Wits Innovation Centre (WIC)

The Wits Innovation Centre (WIC) is a dynamic hub of creativity and ingenuity that seeks to develop an ‘innovation mindset’ across all disciplines and boundaries, and strives to assist researchers and students to transform their ideas from research outputs to innovation and enterprise.

About the Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute

The Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand is an African-based interdisciplinary AI research hub that aims to advance the scientific understanding of both natural and artificial intelligence, foster breakthrough research and technological innovation, invest in developing a crucial mass of African AI expertise, and establish responsible policies for systemic, sustained impact both locally and globally. Core programmatic activity focuses on three strategic workstreams: the fundamental science of AI, application in society and industry, and African AI governance and leadership, while developing research capacity and talent across sectors.

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