Tech giant Google (GOOGL) is looking to expand digital access in Africa by building four new subsea cable hubs across the continent’s north, south, east, and west regions. The goal is to give 500 million Africans access to cloud services and artificial intelligence tools by 2030. James Manyika, who is Google’s Senior Vice President of Research, Labs, Technology, and Society, said that this builds on projects that are already in place.
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These include the Google Cloud region in Johannesburg, the Equiano cable along Africa’s western coast, and Umoja, the first fiber route directly connecting Africa to Australia. By improving connectivity, the company hopes to boost GDP growth in multiple countries while also preparing Africa’s workforce for the future. In addition, a big part of the plan is focused on providing training opportunities for young people, as Africa’s youth population is expected to more than double to over 830 million by 2050.
Language access is also part of the strategy. In fact, Google Translate added support for more than 30 African languages last year, and the company plans to increase that number to over 50 in the next year. Manyika said that AI offers an unprecedented chance to bring benefits to everyone, and Google wants to make sure that people, businesses, and communities across Africa are included in that progress.
Is Google Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on GOOGL stock based on 28 Buys and nine Holds assigned in the past three months. Furthermore, the average GOOGL price target of $237.94 per share implies 4.9% downside risk.
