Google unveiled a $37 million initiative on Thursday to boost artificial intelligence development across Africa.
The US tech giant pledged support for local AI research, focusing on projects like crop monitoring and adapting technology to Africa’s diverse languages.
James Manyika, Google’s senior vice president, called Africa home to some of the most inspiring AI work today during the launch of an AI community centre in Accra.
The centre will act as a hub for training, collaboration, and experimentation, including programming to improve AI literacy across the continent.
A flagship project, the AI Collaborative for Food Security, aims to connect researchers and non-profits to develop early hunger detection and crop resilience tools.
This initiative intends to help smallholder farmers better withstand climate change and economic shocks threatening Africa’s food systems.
AI is already in use by farmers, especially in Nigeria, where local agri-tech startups monitor soil and poultry farm conditions with cutting-edge technology.
Google plans to launch a financing platform to back AI-driven startups in agriculture, health, and education sectors.
Its philanthropic arm pledged $7 million to expand AI education in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana, boosting local talent development.
The company also announced $3 million funding for Masakhane, a collective advancing AI tools in over 40 African languages.
Additionally, two $1 million research grants will support South African institutions focused on data science and machine intelligence.
Ghana’s communications minister, Sam George, urged citizens to harness AI to address national issues like flooding, waste, and traffic management.
Google’s prior African AI efforts include maternal health projects, wildfire alerts, and language model development in Accra and Nairobi.
