At a virtual Google for South Africa event, Google unpacked its support for start-ups, SMMEs and non-profits in a bid to accelerate digital transformation and help South Africa’s economy recover. This follows announcements made at the virtual Google for Africa event in October last year where Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, announced Google’s plan to invest $1 billion over five years to support Africa’s digital transformation. The focus of these investments is on enabling fast, affordable internet access for more Africans, building helpful products supporting entrepreneurship and small business; and helping non-profits to improve lives across Africa.

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year, these initiatives seek to help alleviate the devastation caused in communities and offer support to organisations that work tirelessly to improve the livelihoods of South Africans.

Helping non-profits thrive

Non-profits have been deeply impacted by the pandemic and the work done by these organisations to serve communities has been vital in helping South Africans over the past two years. That’s why Google.org is awarding $500k in grant funding and training to Gift of the Givers and Food for Life South Africa to support them in their economic recovery.

“To date, 22 South African non-profit organisations have tapped into $6.5 million in Google.org grants to bolster their work supporting under-served black youth, SMMEs and women with skills and knowledge to improve their livelihoods,” said Dr Alistair Mokoena, country director, Google South Africa.  

Investing in next-generation entrepreneurs  

Start-ups in South Africa have the potential to unlock a myriad of job opportunities for South Africans through innovative thinking and products that seek to solve some of the country's most pressing needs. Through a rigorous and competitive selection process, the Google for Start-Ups Black Founders Fund in Africa Programme has selected 50 top black-led technology start-ups locally and across the continent to join the programme. 

The start-ups will receive $50 million in funding to help spur their growth as part of a broader Africa investment fund plan launched last year. Carry1st in South Africa is one such start-up that has already received equity investments. Google is part of a group of investors in the business, one of Africa’s leading mobile games publishers. Carry1st will use the additional capital to expand its content portfolio, grow its product, engineering, and growth teams and acquire new users.

 Another investment priority for Google is the SMME sector, which forms the backbone of South Africa’s economy and is key to job creation. In partnership with the Department of Small Business Development, Google wants to provide support, training and resources to these small enterprises through the newly launched ‘Hustle Academy’ (g.co/hustleacademy) a sub-Saharan African initiative aimed at supporting SMMEs and helping their businesses thrive.

In the coming months, Google, in collaboration with Kiva and a local financial services provider, will be disbursing $3 million in loans to qualifying small businesses in South Africa, unlocking further growth opportunities for SMMEs.

Fast-tracking digital transformation
During last year’s Google for Africa event, Google highlighted Equiano, the sub-sea cable investment, to run through South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria and St Helena, and connect the continent with Europe. The cable, which is scheduled to land in South Africa later in the year, will almost triple internet speeds in South Africa and Namibia by 2025 and reduce connectivity costs — a boost that is predicted to create 180,000 jobs in South Africa between 2022 and 2025, according to Google-commissioned research.

Lastly, Google Arts & Culture’s commitment to digitise and share Africa’s rich heritage with the world continues. Google Arts & Culture has partnered with the Origins Centre in South Africa on a new project called ‘Cradle of Creativity’. Dedicated to preserving the creative history and heritage of Africa, the Cradle of Creativity project enables people from across the globe to explore more than 500 high resolution images, 60 expertly curated stories with audio narrations, as well as street view virtual tours, helping to showcase Africa’s creative talent and heritage. You can visit the project at g.co/google4africa21

“We are here for the long term, and our investments and programmes are geared to support this,” concludes Mokoena.