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Google has announced a $37 million investment to advance artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives across Africa.
The funding will support a wide range of programs including local research, language innovation, food security solutions, and startup development in sectors like health and education.
The announcement was made during the launch of a new AI Community Center in Accra, Ghana.
The facility will serve as a regional hub for AI training, experimentation, and collaboration.
Speaking at the launch, James Manyika, Senior Vice President at Google, emphasized the significant AI work already taking place in Africa.
One of the key programs introduced is the AI Collaborative for Food Security, which aims to link researchers and nonprofit organizations to create tools that improve early hunger detection, enhance crop resilience, and support small-scale farmers with better decision-making tools.
The initiative is part of broader efforts to strengthen Africa’s ability to deal with climate-related and economic challenges.
AI technology is already in use among some African farmers. In Nigeria, for example, local agri-tech companies are using AI to track soil health and monitor environmental conditions in farming operations.
Google is also establishing a new funding platform to support AI-focused startups working in agriculture, healthcare, and education.
Additionally, through its charitable division, Google.org, the company has pledged $7 million to expand AI education programs in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana.
Further support will go to Masakhane, a grassroots tech group working to develop AI tools for over 40 African languages. The organization will receive $3 million to continue its work on language inclusion.
Two South African institutions — the African Institute of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and the Wits Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery Institute — will each receive $1 million in research grants to further AI research on the continent.
This multi-faceted funding initiative marks one of Google’s largest single commitments to artificial intelligence in Africa to date, underscoring the company’s growing focus on supporting local innovation and resilience.
El Kheta, an Egyptian online learning platform, has secured a significant investment of US$400,000 from EdVentures, Nahdet Misr Group’s venture capital arm.
Swedfund, Sweden’s development finance institution, has committed $10 million to Novastar Ventures’ Africa People + Planet Fund III (NVIII), a venture capital fund targeting early-stage businesses in Africa.
Blue Earth Capital has committed $25 million in private credit funding to Robust International, a company that processes and exports agricultural products like cashews and sesame seeds.
