Google has announced a sweeping investment plan to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) development across Africa, committing $37 million to a series of research, education, infrastructure, and startup-focused initiatives aimed at creating inclusive, locally driven innovation.
At the heart of the announcement is a $25 million fund from Google.org for the AI Collaborative for Food Security, a multi-partner effort to harness AI in combating hunger and strengthening food systems. The initiative will connect researchers and nonprofits to develop AI tools for early hunger forecasting, crop resilience, and precision farming guidance, all tailored to support smallholder farmers affected by climate and economic shocks.
Okay.ng understands that the funding package also includes $3 million for the Masakhane Research Foundation, a leading open-source AI collective advancing language tools in over 40 African languages. The support will go toward building high-quality datasets, machine translation, and speech technology to bridge accessibility gaps for millions of Africans.
To foster innovation at the grassroots level, Google is also launching a new catalytic funding platform that will support over 100 early-stage AI startups across sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, education, and digital finance. Startups will benefit from mentorship, venture funding, technical training, and Google’s infrastructure to scale responsibly.
In a historic first, the tech giant is also opening a dedicated AI Community Center in Accra, Ghana, marking a major milestone for Africa’s growing AI ecosystem. The space will offer training, workshops, and community events focused on AI literacy, ethics, creativity, and development — with a strong emphasis on local priorities and collaboration.
Further investing in the continent’s future, Google has rolled out 100,000 Google Career Certificate scholarships to students in Ghana. These programs cover job-ready skills in AI Essentials, Prompting, IT Support, Cybersecurity, and Data Analytics, enabling learners to build careers in Africa’s digital economy.
Beyond Ghana, Google.org is also injecting $7 million into AI education efforts across Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana, supporting curriculum development, online safety education, and localized cybersecurity training through universities and nonprofits.
Additionally, Google is deepening academic partnerships with two $1 million grants to boost AI research capacity. One goes to the African Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AfriDSAI) at the University of Pretoria, and the other to the Wits Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute in South Africa — both aimed at supporting MSc and PhD scholars and strengthening foundational research.
James Manyika, Google’s Senior Vice President for Research, Labs, and Technology & Society, said:
“Africa is home to some of the most important and inspiring work in AI today. We are committed to supporting the next wave of innovation through long-term investment, local partnerships, and platforms that help researchers and entrepreneurs build solutions that matter.”
Yossi Matias, Vice President of Engineering and Research at Google, added:
“This new wave of support reflects our belief in the talent, creativity, and ingenuity across the continent. By building with local communities and institutions, we’re supporting solutions that are rooted in Africa’s realities and built for global impact.”
