Google Inc. has announced a $37 million investment to strengthen Africa’s artificial intelligence ecosystem through research support, startup funding, language development, and technical training.
The tech company revealed that the initiative will establish a new AI community center in Accra, Ghana, and provide significant funding to African startups, researchers, and nonprofit-led innovation projects. A core highlight of the investment includes a $25 million commitment to an AI-powered food security initiative aimed at helping local researchers and NGOs use AI tools for hunger prediction and building resilient food systems.
Google is also backing open-source language development by awarding $3 million to the Masakhane Research Foundation to develop AI tools in over 40 African languages, making digital technology more accessible across the continent.
To support Africa’s growing AI startup landscape, Google plans to launch a catalytic funding initiative that will support over 100 startups working in critical sectors like health, education, and agriculture. These startups will receive a mix of grants, technical support, and mentorship to help scale their solutions.
In Ghana, the company will offer 100,000 fully funded Google Career Certificate scholarships in areas such as AI essentials, data analytics, cybersecurity, and prompt engineering. Additionally, Google has earmarked $7 million for AI curriculum development, digital skills training, and online safety programmes in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana.
To bolster academic research, Google is providing two $1 million research grants—one to the African Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AfriDSAI) at the University of Pretoria, and another to the Wits MIND Institute in South Africa. These grants aim to support postgraduate researchers and deepen Africa’s capacity in foundational AI research.
According to James Manyika, Google’s Senior Vice President, the company’s latest investment reflects its long-term commitment to Africa’s AI future. “Africa is home to some of the most important and inspiring work in AI today,” he said.
Yossi Matias, Google’s Vice President of Engineering and Research, added that the initiative is rooted in Google’s belief in the talent and creativity across the continent.
Google noted that this new investment builds on its past support for AI applications in maternal health, wildfire detection, and the development of African language models in Accra and Nairobi.
