Google Invests $37m in AI Research, Talent Development in Africa – THISDAYLIVE

Emma Okonji

Google, at the weekend, announced its bold initiatives and commitment to deepen the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), through a wave of funding and partnerships that would enhance AI research, talent development, and infrastructure across Africa. 

This includes $37 million in cumulative funding, as well as the opening of the AI Community Centre in Accra, Ghana, a platform for inclusive AI collaboration, learning, and innovation. 

According to Google, the initiatives are designed to deepen local impact, support African-led research, and expand access to cutting-edge tools that address pressing challenges across sectors.

Giving reasons for the initiatives, Google said Africa’s AI opportunity has been  projected at $30 billion, but the continent also faces some of the world’s most urgent development challenges. 

“From food insecurity and climate change to gaps in healthcare access and language inclusion, AI can be a powerful tool for African researchers, developers, and startups working to solve real problems. Google’s latest commitments address these needs by investing in people, platforms, and partnerships that enable scalable, locally grounded innovation,” it said.

A breakdown of the investment, showed a $25 million AI Collaborative for Food Security from Google.org, supporting African researchers and organisations using AI to improve hunger forecasting and food systems resilience; A $3 million funding allocation from Google.org to the Masakhane Research Foundation to grow African-led development of open-source AI tools for over 40 local languages; A catalytic funding initiative to empower AI-powered startups across Africa. By blending philanthropic funding, venture capital, and Google’s technical support, this initiative will help over 100 startups scale solutions in health, agriculture, and education.

The breakdown also showed that beyond Ghana, Google.org is also commiting $7 million to support AI curriculum development, AI skills training and online safety programs across Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.

The initiative, it said, also covered the launch of 100,000 Google Career Certificate scholarships in Ghana, offering fully-funded, self-paced programs focused on AI skills like AI Essentials and Prompting Essentials, alongside IT Support, Data Analytics, and Cybersecurity.

Google also announced a $1 million grant to the African Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AfriDSAI) at the University of Pretoria to drive applied AI research and build capacity among African researchers.

Also, a $1 million grant to the Wits MIND Institute to support graduate and postdoctoral researchers students and foster foundational AI research that positions Africa as a global leader.

Speaking about the initiatives, Senior Vice President for Research, Labs, and Technology & Society at Google, James Manyika, said: “Africa is home to some of the most important and inspiring work in AI today. We are committed to supporting the next wave of innovation through long-term investment, local partnerships, and platforms that help researchers and entrepreneurs build solutions that matter.”

Vice President of Engineering and Research at Google, Yossi Matias, said: “This new wave of support reflects our belief in the talent, creativity, and ingenuity across the continent. By building with local communities and institutions, we’re supporting solutions that are rooted in Africa’s realities and built for global impact.”

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