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- Google opens contest for African developers
- Google’s Africa play
- Google launches African technology incubator
- Google launches ‘Baraza' to increase African content online
Google opens contest for African developers
The internet search giant Google holds competition for 30 African software programmers. A media release said the annual competition is scheduled to take place from April to July in Ireland. Winners will undergo internship training at Google's Engineering Headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
Dubbed Google Code Jam Africa, the competition will see African developers drawn from 30 countries; battle it out in an effort to break software codes and algorithmic puzzles designed by the most ingenious minds on the planet.
Google Code Jam is a coding competition in which professional and student programmers are asked to solve complex algorithmic challenges in a limited amount of time. The contest is all-inclusive: Google Code Jam lets competitors program in the coding language and development environment of their choice.
Nigeria is again represented this year and the country hopes to make an impact as it previously did when represented by Oduntan Odubanjo last year. In 2009, Odubanjo was one of four winners selected for an internship with Google.
Google’s Africa play
4-Jan-11
As Google’s presence grows everywhere, it isn’t neglecting Africa and is betting on the power the internet will bring to transform business and society on the continent – even if it remains one of the least connected parts of the world.
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Google launches African technology incubator
22-Mar-11
Internet giant Google has announced the launch of Umbono, a Cape Town-based technology incubator that will provide qualifying internet and mobile technology entrepreneurs with seed capital, mentorship and six months' office space and free bandwidth.
By bringing together seed capital, Google mentorship, "angel investors", local tech stars, entrepreneurs and business leaders, the Umbono programme aims to help selected internet or mobile-focused start-up teams to transform their ideas into companies.
"As part of its goal to strengthen the web ecosystem across Africa, Google hopes that Umbono will further encourage the growth of the developer community and support the country's already flourishing tech sector," Google South Africa programme manager Johanna Kollar said in a statement this week.
Google said it had selected Cape Town to host the pilot of its new incubator concept because the city was in "the process of positioning itself as a hub for innovation and technology".
Mentorship, office space, bandwidth
For a period of six months, qualifying teams will enjoy free office space and bandwidth, in addition to the US$25 000 to $50 000 (R175 000 to R350 000) in funding they'll receive from Umbono's panel of angel investors and Google.
Funding will be disbursed around milestones; a customized schedule will be drafted with each team upon programme induction, based on an anticipated development schedule. It is up to the recipients to decide how to use the funds.
Capital from 'angel investors' will be exchanged for equity (10%) and will be governed by standard terms of investment - the same terms for each team.
"Teams will not only benefit from local connections, but also from the extensive mentorship network of Google experts who can provide guidance on issues ranging from product design and commercialisation to legal incorporation and valuation," Kollar said.
Working with local partners
Google is collaborating with the Silicon Cape Initiative and the Bandwidth Barn to ensure that Umbono's teams are well positioned to succeed.
Umbono teams will have access to the Bandwidth Barn's VeloCITI program. This program covers all business topics relevant to an emerging business, from business model definition to market segmentation and pricing strategies.
The 10 business modules and four additional financial modules are led by external topic experts and business leaders.
Applications are available on the Umbono website, open to all South African residents. The deadline for the first round applicants is April 15, but the website will continue to host applications for all interested candidates.
Google launches ‘Baraza' to increase African content online
26-Oct-10
How can I write a movie script for Nollywood? How does the stock exchange operate in Johannesburg? What is the recipe for bitter leaf soup? What is the best company for car insurance in Kenya? English and French speaking Internet users in Africa, with local questions, can now turn to each other for expert advice on almost any topic, using Google Baraza.
Baraza, which means ‘taskforce' or ‘council' in Swahili, is a question and answer service that will also be integrated into search results on Google Search.
Baraza is available in 40 countries across Africa. Local domains of the service have been set up in South Africa, Cameroon, Uganda, Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya, Ivory Coast and many other countries. Experts in any field, be it food, business, tourism, fashion and more, can log on today and start providing advice. Users can also create profiles, send messages, follow others, rate answers and receive points for asking and answering.
"In our effort to understand the needs of the market we found out that people across Africa ask Google a tremendous number of questions every day, however a lot of these remain unanswered due to the lack of local content online. We recognise that users are the best at answering each other's questions within a community, and this product is the perfect way to be able to share and contribute information," says Aneto Okonkwo , Product Manager, Google. "The Google Africa teams are committed to enhancing the online experience, and making the Internet more relevant for all the continent's users."