Expansion to help create digital skills in Africa

GOOGLE is scaling up investment in Africa by laying fibre optic cable, easing access to cheaper Android phones and training a workforce in digital skills as the US technology giant seeks to expand on the continent.

“We laid about 1 000km of fibre in Uganda and we are busy doing about 1 000km in Ghana,’’ Google’s South Africa head, Luke McKend, said.

“We want to make sure that we cover all the bases. We want to train people and make sure that they have the devices and are able to connect to the internet.’’

The Mountain View, California-based company is now turning its attention to web-focused skills training for small businesses across Africa, McKend said.

Alongside US competitors including Facebook, Google is seeking to boost connectivity on the continent to prise open a new market for smart phones and services such as web search and social media.

Younger consumers in sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly demanding quicker internet speeds and cheaper phones to go about their business, while local wireless operators, including MTN and Vodacom, see the digital space as their fastest-growing market.

Facebook last month said it planned about 80km of fibre cable in Uganda, while chief executive Mark Zuckerberg met technology businessmen in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa last year.

The company said it had planned to launch a satellite to extend internet access to rural parts of sub-Saharan Africa, but the plan was scuppered when a SpaceX rocket connected to the initiative blew up in Florida.

Google, a unit of Alphabet, is running African trials for its Project Loon, which uses solar-powered balloons to connect people in rural or remote places.

The company will also provide off-line versions of its training courses in languages including Swahili, IsiZulu and Hausa.

“Africa is an important and growing market, and we want to be involved in the entire ecosystem and cover the continent from all the different angles,’’ McKend said.