Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, is in Nigeria to attend Google for Nigeria program

By
Akura Kwanga
1
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Google putting Nigeria on the map again with Google For Nigeria launch!

Google CEO, Sundar Pichai is in Nigeria. The Chief Executive arrived Nigeria early on Thursday the 27th of July. In a tweet posted 9:37 am, Sundar Pichai announced his arrival in Nigeria.

He is in Nigeria to promote the new Google for Nigeria program.

Sundar Pichai speaks on developments
Sundar Pichai in Lagos for Google For Nigeria launch. He speaks on different developments that are in the fridge by the technology giant for Nigerians and other Africans.

But wait, what is Google for Nigeria all about?

Google for Nigeria is a current program promoted and supported by Google. The web giant is looking to make more and more impact on the internet scene in Africa. The project aims to increase Google’s reach by helping them address many key issues in Nigeria like unemployment, creating suitable market for small companies as well as facilitating the tools needed to harness the potential Nigeria has to offer. Sundar Pichai, who was recently announced as Google CEO gave a formal address on the various issues in the country and how Google plans to help tackle them.

Sundar Pichai in Lagos for Google For Nigeria launch
Google CEO, Sundar Pichai look set to get the ball rolling by taking on some students in Lagos for Google For Nigeria program.

Google kicks off products launch with Nigeria as a major market.

In the company conference held in Lagos, Mr Pichai addressed Nigerians and International observers as he revealed that Google would be launching a series of new products and services on the Nigerian market. These products from various broad sectors show the highly diversified interests of the technology giant.

Among the products launched were Google Street View. Google Street View allows the user to see and experience the sights of places, landmarks and monuments as well as explore places with natural phenomena. This is all done from the comfort of your room or on the go. This allows one to truly explore and understand any place of interest from your device. According to a tweet released by the “Google in Africa” handle “You can now explore the vibrant city of Lagos from your couch…”

Besides Google Street View, the Company also announced the new Google service that effectively allows for social media styled posts to rank directly on Google’s search results. The new service “Post on Google” allows for users to create posts that rank directly in search engine results. This allows Nigerian companies, celebrities as well as important personalities to create content on their social media account that then appears directly in Google’s search page results. This service is currently available in just 3 countries: U.S.A, Brazil and now Nigeria.

Sundar Pichai took selfie with the participants at Google's Digital Skills for Africa program in Lagos.
Sundar Pichai took selfie with the participants at Google’s Digital Skills for Africa program in Lagos. Few months ago, Mark Zuckerberg was in Lagos and today Google CEO, Sundar Pichai is stepping up the game. It is right time for tech startups in Nigeria to benefit from these developments.

Google to Train 10 Million Africans.

Google also restated their commitment to aiding and facilitating development in Nigeria. The Company has also pledged to help train 10 Million Africans over the next five years.

It further went on to elucidate that over a 100,000 Nigerians will be receive training as software developers by the company. The CEO further pledged the company’s full backing to help prepare Nigerians and Africans for the jobs of the future.

The company further went on to express its delight at the new Telcos service coming to Nigeria. This service will allow Nigerians to make payments on their phones without using their credit or debit cards. Simply put, this allows Nigerians to pay for services using their airtime. Currently, just 2 service providers will have the new feature powered by Google: MTN and 9Mobile.

Google is opening more doors.

The Google CEO’s visit has come just little over a year since the visit of Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO. Many pundits expect a very rapid change of the technology landscape in the country in the next five years. This highlights the interest many international corporations have in Nigeria as growing market. It also helps highlight the potential on the African continent and the need to explore the African market to further facilitate growth and development. Google.org is planning to commit $20M to African non-profit organization over next 5 years, and that’s a huge development for non profits in the country.

Other notable events of the day at the Google For Nigeria

 

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1 COMMENT

  1. Hello Akura,

    “Google for Nigeria” is really an excellent move by Google to explore the talent of Nigeria in the digital domain. It would be good if other tech giants launched similar programs in Africa. Africans are very talented but sometimes just lack the opportunities to show it.

    I hope such programs go round to other countries.

    Kudos to Google and its CEO.

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