A Love Letter to Language, Growth, and Grit
In 2007, from a quiet corner of Ghana, a young developer named Nana Sarpong sat at a computer, dreaming in Twi. He believed something simple but revolutionary: that African languages deserved a digital future. With nothing more than Adobe Director and a deep love for his culture, he built the very first version of Nkyea Twi Primer — a downloadable Twi language learning software for PC and Mac.
It was raw. It was personal. And it was the beginning.
By 2009, the iPhone had arrived in Ghana. Living in Cape Coast at the time, Nana saw a new door open — mobile learning. He partnered with his friend Isaac Ameyaw, and together, without any prior experience, they taught themselves Objective-C. Their passion led to the launch of Nkyea Twi Phrasebook, one of the first African language apps ever built. They followed it up with a Swahili version and relocated Nkyea Learning Systems to Kumasi and built the iPhone and iPad versions of Nkyea Twi Primer. It was bold. It was exciting.
But like many startups, the road got rough. The business didn’t take off as they’d hoped, and in 2014, Isaac had to leave for Accra to seek new opportunities.
Still, Nana wasn’t ready to let the vision go. In 2015, he gave Nkyea a new breath — redesigning all the Nkyea apps, creating Basic Swahili, a Swahili version of Twi Primer, Nkyea Keyboard, the first Akan language keyboard app for iPhone that made it easier for people to type in African languages. He also built Kiddie Twi First Words for helping children learn Twi words. Each product was a labor of love, born from lessons learned and a heart that refused to give up.
And now, in 2025 — nearly two decades later — Nkyea is not just surviving, but thriving. We've reimagined the Nkyea Twi Primer for iOS devices and launched Speak Twi with Confidence, a standalone live 1-on-1 Zoom session experience for learning to speak Twi with ease. These are the products of everything Nana and his journey have taught him: about languages, apps, business, failure, and the quiet, powerful act of starting again.
Nkyea is more than an app. It’s a story of perseverance, pride, and the belief that African languages belong not just in books or villages — but in the hands and hearts of millions, around the world.