Google has announced that they will give Kshs 300 million in grants in Africa to support education, entrepreneurship and women empowerment in the continent.
Women empowerment
In Kenya, the company revealed that they are giving a Kshs 125 million grant to GiveDirectly Kenya to reach 500 women who lost their income due to COVID-19. This is aimed at helping them start their own businesses or find new ways to support themselves financially. The company also said they will be equipped with livelihood improvement activities and training to promote entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
Supporting SMEs
The company also focused on the SMEs that have been affected by the pandemic. They set up a digital hub to help businesses and individual and will be helping 500,000 small businesses get online through Google My Business. The company also launched a tool that will help business owners put together a marketing kit. By using information from Google My Business, they can keep customers informed.
“Google will continue to help accelerate Kenya’s digital economy. During this time, the ability to be online has been a lifeline to so many of us, whether you are a small business trying to stay afloat, a parent looking for updates on how to keep your family healthy, or a student trying to keep up with your studies,” stated Agnes Gathaiya, Country Director for Google Kenya & East Africa said.
Google will give scholarships and help jobseekers
The tech giant also announced that they will provide Kshs 75 million in IT support scholarships through Google.org which will be focused on communities and job seekers who cannot afford data. This is a 5 course certificate will prepare individuals for an entry level role in IT support.
They will also target 500,000 students continue with e-learning remotely through Google for Education. Google is working with a number of partners across Africa who will deploy the suite of education products across schools.
In Kenya, they will introduce Google Teacher Centre that aims to train 25,000 teachers to allow for easier integration of their tools into their classroom while supporting them with the best strategies.
