Google has continued to implement its digital transformation investment plan in Africa. The web search giant has been picking different African countries to establish each of the initiatives tied to the transformation plan.
On Tuesday, Google announced the launch of a product development center in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital – its first in the continent. The new hub is designed to build “transformative” products and services for the African market and the world.
The center is Google’s second major research and development investment in Africa.
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The burgeoning African fintech has further exposed digital opportunities in the African tech ecosystem that Google appears to be positioning itself for its digital economic boom. By 2030, Africa will have 800 million internet users and one-third of the world’s under-35 population.
In 2019, Google launched the first AI and research center in Ghana. In October last year, the tech giant announced plans to invest $1 billion in Africa over the next five years. It will focus on four key areas; enabling affordable access to the internet and building products for every kind of African user, helping businesses with their digital transformation, investing in entrepreneurs to spur next-generation technologies and supporting nonprofits working to improve lives across Africa.
Google said it will hire over 100 tech talent including software engineers, researchers and designers over the next two years to help solve difficult and technical challenges, such as improving the smartphone experience for people in Africa, or building a more reliable internet infrastructure, according to Google VP for products, Suzanne Frey.
There is growing interest in Africa from American tech giants, who, in the past five years, have been setting up digital and innovative hubs across the continent. Lagos, Johannesburg, Accra and Nairobi are all getting their investment share.
Two weeks ago, Visa announced that it had set up its first innovation center in Nairobi, to co-create payment and commerce solutions with partners. This came shortly after Microsoft launched a research and development center in Nairobi.
“Africa has been at the forefront of innovation, and we believe that we are going to continue to develop and innovate right here from the continent,” said Google’s policy lead for Sub-Saharan Africa Charles Murito.
Google said it plans to continue building partnerships, products and services to get more people connected to the internet, support small and medium-sized businesses and non-profit organizations.
“We have 300 million people on the internet in the region [Africa] today. We also know that in the course of the rest of this decade, we’re going to have another half a billion people who will experience internet for the very first time, which is why it is incredibly important that we build products and experiences that are helpful to these people that are going to be experiencing the internet just in Africa,” said Google in Africa managing director, Nitin Gajria.
Africa’s internet economy is expected to leap 56% to $180 billion in gross merchandise value by 2025, buoyed by massive digital transformation. This is as the world pushes to sustain the pandemic-spurred shift to digital life.