Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation in Africa is set to receive a new boost as Google Inc. has announced a $37 million investment.
The investment is to support the continent in AI research, training, and innovation across the continent.
A statement issued by the tech giant on Thursday said the investment will cover the launch of an AI community centre in Accra, Ghana, and funding for local startups, researchers, and language development projects.
Google said it will commit $25 million to an AI collaborative to support food security.
According to the statement, the initiative is designed to help African researchers and non-profits use AI tools for hunger forecasting and improving food system resilience.
Google has announced a $3 million investment in the Masakhane Research Foundation to support the development of open-source AI tools in more than 40 African languages.
As part of its broader push to foster innovation, the company is launching a catalytic funding initiative aimed at supporting over 100 AI-focused startups.
These startups will span key sectors such as healthcare, education, and agriculture. The initiative will offer a combination of grant funding, technical assistance, and mentorship to help these startups grow and scale.
In Ghana, Google plans to provide 100,000 fully funded scholarships for its Career Certificate programme. The training will include courses on AI fundamentals, prompt engineering, data analytics, cybersecurity, and other key tech skills.
Also, Google announced a $7 million investment for AI curriculum development, digital skills training, and online safety programmes in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana.
Google will also award 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 Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute in South Africa, to support postgraduate research and strengthen local expertise in foundational AI research.
Google’s Senior Vice President, James Manyika, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to sustained investment in Africa’s growing AI ecosystem.
“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, stated that the company’s support highlights its strong belief in the talent and creativity across Africa.
Google added that this latest round of funding builds on earlier initiatives, including the development of AI tools for maternal health, wildfire detection, and local language models created in its research hubs in Accra and Nairobi.
