Google is expanding its presence in Africa, in what locals are suggesting is part of a move by Google to “realign” its growth strategy part in response to Microsoft’s takeover offer for Yahoo.
Google is currently advertising or has employed staff in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria and Senegal, and is expanding its Africa head office in Kenya.
AllAfrica reports that Google’s Nairobi (Kenya) office is searching for five senior executives for its African operations, “laying the foundation for a looming market share battle on the continent.”
Online connectivity in Africa is below 5% of the population, which isn’t completely surprising given large parts of the content still lack basics such as water, food and electricity. However the more stable African nations have started to boom, and Africa remains the final frontier for internet growth. Africa offers strong growth opportunities into the future when eventually much of the growth in Asia and South America will start to slow.
I think Google.org should focus on Africa before Google does.
i am from Senegal, and this is good news for us. African government spend heavily on technology. although there are no startups in senegal (to my knowledge), there is a serious increase in internet penetration and i can see a lot of innovation coming out of the region within the next 5-10 years. go google.
This is a example of out-of-box thinking from Google…..and I guess the first positive effect of Yahoo-MS deal
MS-Yahoo deal may brings some more new news for our world in coming days.
Interesting strategy indeed, nevertheless do you really think Kenya is part of the “more stable African nations”?
http://www.nyti...amp;oref=slogin
FdX
In Africa terms yes. It’s not a complete basket case yet (Zimbabwe as one of many examples), recent news aside.
I don’t think this has anything to do with Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo, as you suggested in the first line of this article:
“Google is expanding its presence in Africa, in what locals are suggesting is part of a move by Google to “realign” its growth strategy part in response to Microsoft’s takeover offer for Yahoo.”
Look around, lots of companies are “realigning” for the African market. It is the only remaining unindustrialized continent, and it’s jumping straight into the information era, the largest population to do so without industrialization. Any company that has vision will “realign” itself. As a journalist, you should be more careful to point out the real driving forces behind these shifts.
That line must bring a lot of traffic, eh?
It is good initiative from Google to expand its horizons to the dark continent. Also I think it is part of providing its mass customized free innovative solutions around the globe.
mr nice,
neither do I.
SEO Training
I’m not sure if we’re allowed to call it darkest Africa or similar any more.
i dont even tought africans have computers or internet.
“i dont even tought africans have computers or internet.”
Although that’s a weird generalization to make, it relates to an important point in that the the innovation Google would bring is far in advance of the real needs of many Africans. I know there’s not a lot of business in it, but still, if the governments try to jump forward by spending money on internet technology before they focus on solving tribal/genocide/starvation/disease problems, the continent is not *really* going to benefit, only a tiny minority of people will.
Google was right to headquarter in Kenya after how Tiscali was treated in South Africa. Tiscali tried to help but was stifled by the greedy government who wanted to protect the Telkom monopoly. Tiscali left selling their clients to MWEB. Not even Ubuntu drunk Mark Shuttleworth wants to base his Canonical there.
Google started making these moves long before there was any talk of a MS/Yahoo deal. They’ve been slowly ramping up in East/West Africa for the last year and South Africa for 2 years.
If you’re thinking that Google is moving faster into Africa just for what your concept of the internet is, you’re wrong there too. It’s about mobile phones and the long tail of the African market. There are more than 200 million mobile phones in Africa that few companies are paying any attention to. It’s Africa’s PC.
Yes, there is a market within urban areas for traditional web-based Google products, but this isn’t the main market in Africa.
Your comment that, “Africa remains the final frontier for internet growth” is true though. People are going to make millions of dollars there very soon, and the rest of the world will be surprised because they didn’t see it coming.
@ 11 “before they focus on solving tribal/genocide/starvation/disease problems, the continent is not *really* going to benefit, only a tiny minority of people will”
this is like saying the US shouldn’y spend on technology while there is recession, unemployment rising ( no matter what they tell you), healthcare problems soaring, and 2 billion dollars being spent every day to fight in Iraq.
You can see that it doesn’t work that way.
It is sad to see that the only picture you can come up with is from Google map.
“this is like saying the US shouldn’y spend on technology while there is recession, unemployment rising ( no matter what they tell you), healthcare problems soaring, and 2 billion dollars being spent every day to fight in Iraq.”
that’s sounds like a good plan to me. technological innovation is great, but there’s a chance, just a chance, that social and societal innovation is better.
@ other. you also have to think that when people are busy working, innovating, generating revenue, improving their healthcare, they tend to worry less about fighting. at the end of the day Israel is far from beign a stable nation, but they lead the world in advanced technology. should we suggest they stop working on convergence, mobility…and focus on stabilizing their political isues?
It is nice to hear Google are coming. We hope they will bot bend to censorship as they did in China.
In Uganda, they will find a man who has overstayed his welcome as country’s president. In Kenya, Mwai Kibaki is clinging to power even after a clear sign fom the people they are fed up with hm.
Welcome to Africa!
Mutimba
i think is sucks for people who want to start african startups like me. No one pays attention in the first place, and now when such a competitor comes it just knock us small guys out.
anyway it means more development all around. N that dude who says he didn’t know we had computers. ignorant man, it turns out we do.
Not only do we have computers we also have Mike and Keith’s favo(u)rite: Scotch, Hookers and Blow
where are the google kenya offices????their contact details
Google’s move has nothing to do with MSFT or Yahoo. Google has been posting jobs for a new Nairobi office for several months.
Hiya ya’ll are ignorant about Kenya. We are a very stable nation despite recent clashes from the election. Google Karibu Kenya! As a recent Kenyan transplant, I look forward to finishing my degree here in the states and moving back home to take full advantage of the new technological opportunities in my homeland.
Hi.Is Google Kenya Willing to publish a new,hilarious comic series that could reach and appeal to the international market? Is Google Kenya ready to make the world laugh their hearts out? If so then get in touch with the artist Reeves Sinei (resident in Nairobi) at ronoreeve@yahoo.com.Thanks.
Isn’t it ironic that a search on Google for Google Kenya contacts does not return any relevant results? HOW DO WE CONTACT GOOGLE KENYA???
Interesting that one of there are still people who think of Africa as the ‘Dark continent’…full of disease and and no computers (Not surprising if all you know about the continent is what you see on T.V).
I recently went travelled to my home country Uganda, and was pleasantly suprised at the increased number of home Internet connections, a phenomenon that would have been unheard of barely three years ago. At my parent’s house about 150 miles outside the capital, my Dad can now happily sending out E-mails and explore the web.
Echoing a social theorist whose name I forget, “With Technological progress follows Social Progress”. The adventurous and bright minds at Google are already thinking about the bigger picture. Hopefully the rest of the world will stop viewing Africa as a continent of despair, but one of opportunity.
Julius (www.fairviews.org)
Its good we finally have google.co.ke in our homeland, will benefit us n technologically advance the continent as a whole, 4 those who think Africa as a dark contint, ur wrong, positive things happen here unreported, u only see the bad as we also see the bad coming from other continents.