Google has opened its first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Community Centre in Accra on Thursday, positioning Ghana as a key hub for AI education, research, and innovation in Africa.
The centre will provide training programmes, workshops, and collaborative opportunities for developers, students, and creators.
Its activities will focus on four main areas, which include Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy, community technology, social impact, and arts and culture.
As part of the initiative, Senior Vice President for Research, Labs, and Technology and Society at Google, James Manyika, stated that Google would offer 100,000 fully funded Career Certificate scholarships to students in Ghana.
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Mr Manyinka said the courses would cover AI essentials, prompting essentials, IT support, data analytics and cybersecurity, aimed at equipping young people with skills for the digital economy.
He also mentioned that the AI Community Centre was part of a broader $37 million package to strengthen AI research, digital skills, and technology infrastructure across Africa.
Out of the amount, he said $25 million would support the AI Collaborative for Food Security, a multi-partner programme developing AI tools to forecast hunger, improve crop resilience, and assist smallholder farmers in adapting to climate and economic shocks.
"Google is also investing $3 million in the Masakhane Research Foundation, which focuses on creating translation models, speech tools, and high-quality datasets for more than 40 African languages, improving digital access for millions", he added.
Furthermore, Mr Manyinka indicated that in an attempt to accelerate innovation, Google would launch a catalytic funding initiative to help more than 100 AI-driven startups expand solutions in healthcare, agriculture, education, and other sectors.
Startups, he stressed, would receive a mix of funding, mentorship, and technical expertise.
"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 to that matter," Mr Manyika explained.
Google's Vice President of Engineering and Research, Yossi Matias, said the support reflects his outfit's belief in the talent, creativity, and ingenuity across the continent.
"By building with local communities and institutions, we are supporting solutions that are rooted in Africa's realities and built for global impact," he said.
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On his part, the Minister of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Mr Sam Nartey George, called on Ghana's technology community to use digital tools to address pressing national challenges such as urban flooding, waste management and traffic congestion.
"Digital transformation is not a luxury; it is an urgent necessity. It is key to creating sustainable jobs, improving public services, and making Ghana globally competitive," Mr George said.
He praised Google for supporting Ghana's "One Million Coders" initiative by offering 100,000 career certifications, describing them as "100,000 opportunities and 100,000 lives transformed."
"African solutions do not rest in Silicon Valley. They reside in Nairobi, Kampala, Antananarivo, and right here in Accra. When you build here, you're not just solving for Ghana you're impacting the continent," he added.
