NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Google announced $1bn of investments in Africa’s digital transformation in its first ever Google for Africa event on 6 October.

Over the next five years, Google’s investments will focus on improving connectivity, backing African tech startups and entrepreneurs, and renewing Google’s non-profit commitments on the continent, Nitin Gajria, Google’s managing director in Sub-Saharan Africa, told the BBC.

One of the initiatives is the Google sub-sea cable project stretching to South Africa, Namibia and Nigeria that the company says will improve internet access and affordability by next year. The tech giant will also invest $50m in its Africa Investment Fund aimed at growth stage startups.