Google has announced a total of $37 million in cumulative funding — including new and previously unannounced commitments — to support AI research, talent development, and infrastructure across Africa.
A key highlight is the launch of Africa’s first AI Community Center in Accra, Ghana.
The funding package includes funding and partnerships that aim to strengthen AI research, support African languages, improve food systems, expand digital skills, and build research capacity.
Why it matters
Africa is fast becoming a hotbed for AI innovation, but many local developers, researchers, and startups still face infrastructure and funding gaps. Google’s latest moves aim to help close that divide while building AI solutions that reflect the continent’s realities.
What Else Was Announced
- $25M for food security: Google.org’s largest share of funding will support the AI Collaborative for Food Security, a multi-partner initiative focused on hunger forecasting, crop resilience, and tailored tools for smallholder farmers.
- $3M to Masakhane: The open research collective advancing AI for over 40 African languages will use the funding to build datasets, translation models, and speech tools.
- Startup support: A new platform will offer catalytic capital, mentorship, and technical support to 100+ AI-driven startups in agriculture, health, education, and other sectors.
- AI Community Center in Accra: A first-of-its-kind space for AI learning, experimentation, and collaboration. Programming will focus on literacy, social impact, and local innovation.
- 100,000 scholarships in Ghana: Fully-funded Google Career Certificates will train students in AI Essentials, Prompting, Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, and more.
- Regional reach: An additional $7M will fund AI education in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana, supporting nonprofits and universities developing localized AI curricula and online safety training.
- Boosting research: Two $1M grants will go to:
- AfriDSAI (University of Pretoria) for applied AI research and training.
- Wits MIND Institute (South Africa) to support MSc and PhD students in foundational AI research.
What they’re saying
Speaking about the announcements, James Manyika, Senior Vice President for Research, Labs, and Technology & Society at Google, 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.”
Zoom out
The initiatives build on Google’s broader AI footprint in Africa — from maternal health tools in Ghana and Nigeria, to wildfire alerts in East Africa, and regional language models developed by teams in Accra and Nairobi.
