Google has revealed that it will open an artificial intelligence (AI) research center in Africa, its firstly on the continent.
The Silicon Valley giant said that the new research hub pass on open in Accra, Ghana, later this year, announcing the remove in a blog post published on Wednesday.
“We’re committed to collaborating with district universities and research centers, as well as working with policy makers on the hidden uses of AI in Africa,” Google’s blog post said.
Accra, based in the west of Africa, joins cities including Paris, New York and Tokyo, as intimately as Google’s Mountain View headquarters, in hosting an AI research center.
While the decisiveness is the first of its kind for Google in Africa, the company has had offices on the continent for the biography decade. It already operates a digital skills training program that it believes can basically benefit 10 million Africans. In addition, Google runs a separate ambition called Launchpad Accelerator Africa that it says supports 100,000 developers and past 60 technology startups in Africa.
But, Accra isn’t the only city in Africa posing itself as a tech hub. Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and Rwandan funds Kigali are both known for their credentials in tech development, for case. Meanwhile, Kenya has been singled out by Microsoft founder Bill Doorways for its “pioneering” innovation of digital payments platform M-Pesa.
Ghana fitting appealed to Google because of the quality of its education system and other provender institutions, Lucy James, associate consultant with Control Chances’ Africa team, told CNBC via telephone on Thursday. The search South African private limited company is focussed on “drawing in local talent and there’s no shortage of that in Ghana,” she asserted.
Ghana also enjoys relative political stability, James excused. Meanwhile, it’s neighbor Nigeria — the continent’s largest economy which also nurtures business center Lagos as a burgeoning tech hub – is more prone to respectful unrest.
Nonetheless, the choice may seem unusual given that Ghana ranks 12th for Sub-Saharan Africa in the Beget Bank’s latest Ease of Doing Business index. Rwanda, Kenya and South Africa – another of the continent’s big thrifts – all come in the top five by comparison.
But, Ghana’s pro-business government and entrepreneurial sorority may have contributed to its selection. People in Ghana share the “sense that you can disorganize something and make a difference,” James said.