By 2034 Africa is expected to have the world’s largest
working-age population of 1.1 billion yet only 3 to 4 million jobs are created
annually. That means there’s an urgent need to create opportunities for the
millions of people on the continent who are creative, smart and driven to
succeed. The internet, and technology , offer great opportunities for creating jobs, growing
businesses and boosting economies. But people need the right skills, tools and
products to navigate the digital world and to make it work for them, their
businesses and their communities.
Today, at our Google for Nigeria event in Lagos, we
announced progress we’ve made in our products and features for users in
Nigeria, including YouTube, Search and Maps. We also announced initiatives
focused on digital skills training, education and economic opportunity, and
support for African startups and developers.
Digital Skills for Africa
Last year we set out to help bridge the digital skills gap
in Africa when we pledged to train one million young people in the region and
we’ve exceeded
this target. Through either in-person or online trainings, we help people
learn to build a web presence, use Search to find jobs, get tips to enhance
their CV, use social media, and so on. Now we’re expanding this program, and
committing to prepare another 10 million people for jobs of the future in the
next five years. We’ll also be providing mobile developer training to 100,000
Africans to develop world-class apps, with an initial focus on Nigeria, Kenya
and South Africa.
Google.org grants
Our charitable arm, Google.org, is committing $20 million
over the next five years to nonprofits that are working to improve lives across
Africa. We’re giving $2.5 million in initial grants to the nonprofit arms of
African startups Gidi Mobileand Siyavula to provide free access to
learning for 400,000 low-income students in South Africa and Nigeria. The
grantees will also develop new digital learning materials that will be free for
anyone to use.
We also want to invite nonprofits from across the continent
to share their ideas for how they could impact their community and beyond. So
we’re launching a Google.org
Impact Challenge in Africa in 2018 to award $5 million in grants. Any
eligible nonprofit in Africa can apply, and anyone will be able to help select
the best ideas by voting online.
Launchpad Accelerator Africa
We want to do more to support African entrepreneurs in
building successful technology companies and products. Based on our global
Launchpad Accelerator program, this initiative will provide more than $3
million in equity-free funding, mentorship, working space and access to expert
advisers to more than 60 African startups over three years. Intensive
three-month programs, held twice per year, will run out of a new Google
Launchpad Space in Lagos—the program’s first location outside of the United
States.
Making our products work better in Africa
For people to take advantage of digital opportunities,
acquiring the right skills and tools is only part of the equation. Online
products and services—including ours—also need to work better in Africa. Today,
we’re sharing news about how we’re making YouTube, Search and Maps more useful
and relevant for Nigerian users.
YouTube Go
Designed from the ground up, YouTube Go lets you discover,
save and share videos you love in a way that’s transparent about the size of
downloads. Designed to be “offline” first, the app improves the experience of
watching videos on a slower network and gives control over the amount of data
used streaming or saving videos. It’s a full YouTube experience, with fresh and
relevant video recommendations tailored to your preferences and the ability to
share videos quickly and easily with friends nearby. In June, Nigeria
became the second country where we started actively testing YouTube Go. Later
this year, we’ll be expanding this to a beta launch of the app, available to
all Nigerian users.
Lagos now on Street View in Google Maps
In the last few months, we’ve improved our address search
experience in Lagos, by adding thousands of new addresses and streets, outlines
of more than a million buildings in commercial and residential areas, and more
than 100,000 additional Nigerian small businesses on Google Maps. Today
we’re launching Lagos on Street View,
with 10,000 kilometers of imagery, including the most important historic roads
in the city. You can virtually drive along the Carter Bridge to the National Stadium or across the Eko Bridge, down to the Marina—all on your
smartphone.
Faster web results
When you’re on a 2G-like connection or using a low storage
device, pages can take a long time to load. We previously launched a feature
that streamlines search results so they load with less data and at high speed.
Today we’re extending that feature to streamline websites you reach from
search results, so that they load with 90 percent less data and five times
faster, even on low storage devices.
More local information in Search
More local information in Search
We’ve also made several updates to Search to bring more
useful, relevant answers and information to people in Nigeria:
- Knowledge Panels: We’re connecting people with easy access to the answers to things they care about, displaying knowledge cards for everything from local football teams to Nigerian musicians and actors.
- Health Cards: Later this year we’ll launch more than 800 knowledge cards detailing common symptoms and treatments for the most prevalent health conditions in Nigeria. We’ve partnered with the University of Ibadan to ensure that answers have been reviewed by Nigerian doctors for local relevance and accuracy. Nigeria is one of the first countries where we’re providing locally tailored health answers on Search.
- Posts on Google: Posts makes it possible for musicians, entertainers and other public figures to share updates, images and videos directly on Google, for people to see while they explore on the web. Nigeria is the third country where we’ve made this feature available and some of the country’s popular musicians are already using it.
The things we’re announcing today are what drive us—building
platforms and products that are relevant and useful for billions, not just the
few, and helping people to succeed in the digital economy. That’s why we hope
to equip more people, in Africa and elsewhere, with digital skills and tools.
We’re excited to be part of Africa’s evolving digital story.
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