Denis Opudo
Google is one of the few startups that are working in ensuring that Africa looks better than it was. The company has many initiatives aimed at improving the livelihood of Africans. Furthermore, Google has broadened its tech initiative programs in the continent. The company aims at helping young Africans get digital skills. The skills will make them be more self-reliant. This is done through their training programs.
The African youths need strong technical skills to help them change the lives of the less fortunate. They can also use the skills to help the unemployed in getting the digital jobs. Google efforts can improve the job market and narrow the widening skills gap. There is a high growth of mobile phone usage in Africa with an increase to 73% in 2014 from 5% in 2003. More than 650 million people own mobile phones and there is significant growth of the 3G mobile network. The number is more than those in Europe and the US added together.
The only way of offering the job opportunity to the high number is by having much investment. The investment should be directed at supporting the African digital revolution. But, Google promised to train 10 million people in online skills in a period of 5 years from 2017. Their effort in eradicating employment reflected after it had trained one million individuals. Furthermore, it aims at doing the training in languages like Zulu, Hausa, and Swahili. Its main focus will be on Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. A total of 100,000 Africans will get mobile developer training to develop world-class apps.
Training will be both in person and online and 40% of trained people will be women. Statistics show that 50% of the population in many African countries is women. But there is a big gap between women working in STEM roles. The program will bring many women into the STEM jobs. The Google training program already has a huge effect. After training an individual with the digital skills he went ahead and trained 5,000 young Africans in 2016. Furthermore, the company offers grants for computer science education. This happens through their platform professional development grants. A total of 61 organizations have already received grants. They have used it to impact 5,000 educators from 15 African countries.
There was an increase in the number of startups that got funding by 16.8% in 2016 compared to 2015. Google has so far supported 60 startups from Africa in a period of three years. The startups get help to construct technology companies and products. Google will have their Google New Launchpad Space in Lagos. The program will run for three months. It will take place twice a year and will be the first program to be located outside the US. However, apart from the initiatives, Google is also improving its products. This is specifically products in Africa like Google Maps, Youtube and Google Search.
