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Google has announced a $37 million funding initiative to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) development across Africa, with major investments aimed at improving food security and enhancing digital access in local languages.
According to a statement sent to Techpoint Africa, the funding includes a $25 million commitment to the AI Collaborative for Food Security.
This initiative will support African researchers and nonprofits in building AI tools that tackle hunger, climate-related crop threats, and farming inefficiencies.
By applying AI to early warning systems and tailored agricultural guidance, the programme aims to protect millions of smallholder farmers from worsening economic and environmental shocks.
In a parallel move, Google.org awarded $3 million to the Masakhane Research Foundation, a pan-African collective working on natural language processing tools for over 40 African languages.
The funding will support the development of datasets, translation systems, and speech recognition tools—technologies that are largely absent for most African languages but critical for inclusive access to digital services.
Speaking on the initiative, James Manyika, Google’s Senior Vice President for Research and Technology and Society, said, “Africa is home to some of the most important and inspiring work in AI today. We are committed to supporting innovation that is built for and by Africans.”
A key highlight of the announcement was the launch of a dedicated AI Community Centre in Accra, the first of its kind on the continent.
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Designed as a hub for AI experimentation, training, and cultural engagement, the centre will serve developers, students, and creators with a curriculum spanning literacy, tech, social impact, and the arts.
Google is also expanding access to digital skills, offering 100,000 fully-funded career certificate scholarships across Ghana.
These cover AI and tech fields like prompt engineering, data analytics, and cybersecurity.
Additionally, $7 million in grants will support AI curricular and safety training in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana.
Further research capacity will be strengthened through two $1 million grants—one to the University of Pretoria’s AfriDSAI and the other to Wits MIND Institute in South Africa—to fund advanced AI studies and help define Africa’s role in the global AI conversation.
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