Google teaches one million African people to use the web

While this might be surprising to millennials, not everyone grows up with computers. It wasn't until I was in high school that my family was able to afford a PC. While I learned quickly, I was already many years behind my more well-off peers. Nowadays computers are much less expensive, enabling more folks to own them, but there are still many people around the globe, in places like Africa, that can't afford one. This means they will fall behind the rest of the world on essential skills, such as using the web.

Google was not satisfied with this, however, so it set out to teach more people how to use the web. Last year, the search giant set a goal of training one million African people to use it. Today, the company announces that it has finally met the goal!

"Last April, we set out to help bridge the digital skills gap in Africa when we pledged to train 1 million young people in the region. Today, we're excited to announce that we've met that target. One million Africans have now been trained and equipped with the skills they need to navigate and take advantage of the opportunities of the web," says Bunmi Banjo, Google.

Banjo also says, "As a result of this training and other similar initiatives, we’ve discovered a new generation of Africans who are eager to explore how to take better advantage of the internet and the opportunities it offers. But the task of helping more Africans to leverage the growing digital market is one that requires continuous support from organizations, companies and also from governments. We’ve been glad to see the rising number of government-led initiatives focused on helping to train more young Africans on how to use online tools."

The company is not resting after this success, however. Google shares the following future plans.

1. We will provide offline versions of our online training materials to reach individuals and businesses in low access areas where we were unable to hold physical trainings. Our goal is to ensure that everyone, regardless of location and online status, is able to access these trainings.
2. We will deliver our offline trainings in Swahili, IsiZulu and Hausa. We understand the role of local languages in communicating with rural communities of Africa and want to ensure that more non-English speaking Africans get an opportunity to take these trainings.
3. Our offline training effort to reach students, job seekers and business owners will continue through face-to-face trainings managed by our partners.
4. We will hold regular meet-ups to drive engagement around the value of the web at the community level with those trained, Policy makers and influencers within those communities.
5. Finally, we'll continue to focus on achieving gender balance by ensuring that at least 40 percent of the people trained are women.

Does Google have a financial interest in getting more people using the web? Absolutely. The company makes money through advertising on the web (plus tracking users). In other words, every additional African person that uses the web is another way for Google to generate revenue. With that said, regardless of the motivation, the search giant deserves kudos for educating people, and thereby further leveling the playing field between different economic groups.

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