Google set to empower African Youths with $37m investment

Google has announced a $37 million investment to support artificial intelligence (AI) development across Africa.

The funding will go into research, language development, agriculture, digital skills training, and the creation of new infrastructure to help the continent grow its AI capacity.

A major part of the funding, $25 million, is going to a new initiative called the AI Collaborative for Food Security.

The project brings together researchers and nonprofit organizations to build AI tools that can help predict food shortages, support farmers with personalized guidance, and improve crop resilience.

The aim is to make Africa’s food systems more adaptable and fair, especially as climate change and economic pressures continue to threaten food security.

In an effort to make digital content more accessible, Google is giving $3 million to the Masakhane Research Foundation, which works on AI tools in over 40 African languages.

This funding will support the development of better language datasets, machine translation systems, and voice technologies, helping millions of Africans access online content in their native languages.

Google is also launching a new funding platform to support over 100 AI-powered startups across Africa. These startups, working in areas like agriculture, healthcare, and education, will receive a mix of philanthropic funding, investment, mentorship, and technical support.

The goal is to help them develop and scale real-world solutions while promoting the responsible use of AI.

To support learning and innovation, Google is opening the first AI Community Center in Africa. Located in Accra, Ghana, the center will be a space for training, community events, and AI experimentation.

It will focus on AI education, community-based technology projects, social impact, and creative arts, providing a space for students, developers, and creators to engage with AI in meaningful ways.

As part of its investment in education, Google is offering 100,000 free scholarships to university students in Ghana.

These scholarships cover self-paced online courses in AI Essentials, Prompting Essentials, IT Support, Data Analytics, and Cybersecurity, giving more young Africans the opportunity to gain skills for the digital economy.

Beyond Ghana, Google.org is committing an additional $7 million to support AI education programs in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana.

This funding will help academic institutions and nonprofit groups create localized AI training, online safety initiatives, and cybersecurity courses.

Two major research institutions in South Africa will also receive support from Google.org.

The African Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Pretoria will use a $1 million grant to expand its applied AI research and training. Another $1 million grant will go to the Wits Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute, where it will support master’s and PhD students conducting advanced AI research.

Commenting on the announcement, James Manyika, Google’s Senior Vice President for Research, Labs, and Technology & Society, said Africa is home to some of the most exciting AI work today, and Google is committed to supporting innovation through long-term investment and partnerships.

Yossi Matias, Vice President of Engineering and Research at Google, added that this new wave of support reflects Google’s belief in the talent and creativity found across the continent and the importance of building solutions rooted in Africa’s needs with global potential.

The investment marks one of Google’s largest AI initiatives on the continent, reinforcing its commitment to helping Africa build a strong, inclusive, and innovative AI ecosystem.