- Google Africa is focused on AI upskilling after announcing that it will be investing $5.8 million in selected regions across the continent.
- The investment will be used to fund organisations across Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.
- Google has awarded $20 million already to nonprofits helping Africans develop their digital skills.
Google Africa is on a drive to develop more skills on the continent, and its latest focus is artificial intelligence. This as the company has announced that $5.8 million will be invested into AI upskilling and education in selected regions of the continent.
To that end, it confirmed that it will use the aforementioned $5.8 million to fund organisations in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.
“The funding will support organizations providing foundational AI skills to workers, equipping them for the digital economy; educate teenagers about AI and its safe and ethical use, empowering future generations; equip non-profit leaders with AI knowledge to enhance their impact and drive social change; and support the public sector to develop and utilize AI solutions,” outlined Google in a release shared with Hypertext.
Locally one of the organisations set to receive funding is Nelson Mandela University in the Eastern Cape, along with some other universities, which will participate in the Google Cybersecurity Seminars program. Participation includes $500 000 (~R8.84 million) in grant support, along with course content and extensive training.
Google Africa noted that the goal is to help 200 students learn hands-on cybersecurity skills while also supporting the digital ecosystems of 250 local organisations.
“AI could contribute $30 billion to the economy of sub-saharan Africa. But for this to be a meaningful change, everyone needs to be included. The $5.8 million announced today will help bring people, businesses and nonprofits along to take part in harnessing technology for good,” enthused Matt Brittin, president of Google in EMEA, who was visiting Nairobi as part of the announcement.
“We’ve seen how AI can help social impact organizations accelerate and scale their work. The $5.8 million funding announced today will help organizations to create AI tools that will benefit not only communities across Africa, but across the globe,” added Jen Carter, head of Tech and Volunteering at Google.
This latest funding effort is on top of the roughly $20 million Google has put towards supporting organisations helping Africans develop digital skills under the company’s economic opportunity initiative.
