What veterans can bring to the business world

2019 Google for Startups networking event for Veterans and Military Spouses at the American Underground in Durham, NC. Photo by Erin Bell of Bull City Photography.

For veterans, the transition from military life to the workforce can be tricky. I know how crucial it is to offer support, because I’ve been there myself. It's not that I doubted my abilities, but after eight years as a Navy officer, I quite literally did not know what my options were in the professional world.

Kevin Ryan stands, looking into the camera and smiling, wearing his military dress jacket with a white button-up shit and black bow tie.

Kevin Ryan

Thankfully, I was fortunate to land in a challenging role with a ton of support at Google. Even still, I remember feeling completely overwhelmed during my first two weeks before realizing when I had felt just as lost before: My first time on a submarine. When I first struggled to get my bearings on a ship, I taught myself to focus on the task at hand and get the job done. 

Similarly, when I first started out in tech I didn’t necessarily know what program management or technical operations entailed, but I did know how to take absolute ownership over a specific assignment. These skills might have different names in the military and civilian worlds, but they do translate—and American businesses can benefit from this kind of tactical experience.

Veterans are uniquely qualified to tackle the challenges of building a company. We have the ability to handle uncertainty, face challenges with grit and perseverance, work collaboratively in a mission-focused and results-oriented manner, communicate clearly and lead effectively—all key attributes for aspiring entrepreneurs. I’ve seen this firsthand not only in my current role as Network Deployment Manager at  Google Fiber, but as a VetNet mentor at Atlas.

Based down the street from me in Durham at Google for Startups tech hub American Underground, Atlas helps guide the military community in life beyond the uniform through opportunities in education, employment training and entrepreneurship. I’ve loved bringing Google resources to help Atlas attract talent and assist transitioning service members with resumes and job-seeking advice.

And we want to discover what more we can do to help veterans pursue entrepreneurship. Google for Startups recently teamed up with Endeavor Research to learn more about the current state of veteran entrepreneurship in the United States. After speaking with industry leaders, startup ecosystem experts and the military community, we found that veterans face specific challenges when starting and growing a business—namely, access to capital and  networking opportunities. 

Sixty percent of veteran-owned businesses experienced a financing shortfall, compared to 52 percent of  businesses not owned by veterans. Part of this is because building the right types of networks in the business world can be a complicated process for veterans; they tend to have strong networks in the military community, but weaker civilian professional ties. We want to help change that, and our research surfaced four clear ways we can better support veteran entrepreneurs in our communities: 

  1. Focus on building highly curated connections to help veterans navigate the civilian business world.

  2. Build awareness of the value of veteran entrepreneurship and recognize the diverse needs of founders within this group.

  3. Assist veterans in securing professional and educational experiences that better prepare them for startups and growing a business. 

  4. Provide dedicated support to help veterans navigate financial challenges and secure capital. 

To put these findings to work and help veterans build the strong networks they need to succeed as entrepreneurs, we’re launching a three-month Google for Startups Fellowship for veterans in partnership with Atlas. The fellowship will match cohorts of transitioning service members at a startup in the Google for Startups Partner Network where, in addition to their fellowship work, they'll receive invites to educational workshops, mentorship and support from Google mentors like myself. Transitioning Service Members within 180 days of separation who meet the eligibility requirements of the DOD Skillbridge program can participate in the Google for Startups Fellowship. Interested candidates can learn more and apply for the Fellowship at www.atlas.vet/fellowship.

I’m extremely proud to be a part of this effort, and to know that Google prioritizes veterans like myself. These Google for Startups fellowships provide the crucial exposure veterans need to find their sea legs in the corporate world—and to prove that the transitioning military community has so much valuable knowledge, talent and experience to contribute. As one of my Atlas mentees, a U.S. Army veteran, pointed out: ”Soldiers don’t settle for less. Everyone needs that in business—a person who sees an issue and has the confidence to fix it.”

Goodbye Google Webmasters, hello Google Search Central

Googlebot reading a book with a new spider friend

The history behind Google Webmasters

Merriam-Webster claims the first known use of the word "webmaster" was in 1993, years before Google even existed. However, the term is becoming archaic, and according to the data found in books, its use is in sharp decline. A user experience study we ran revealed that very few web professionals identify themselves as webmasters anymore. They're more likely to call themselves Search Engine Optimizer (SEO), online marketer, blogger, web developer, or site owner, but very few "webmasters".

We're changing our name

In brainstorming our new name, we realized that there's not one term that perfectly summarizes the work people do on websites. To focus more on the topic that we talk about (Google Search), we're changing our name from "Google Webmasters Central" to "Google Search Central", both on our websites and on social media. Our goal is still the same; we aim to help people improve the visibility of their website on Google Search.The change will happen on most platforms in the next couple days.

Centralizing help information to one site

To help people learn how to improve their website's visibility on Google Search, we're also consolidating our help documentation and blogs to one site.

Moving forward, the Search Console Help Center will contain only documentation related to using Search Console. It's also still the home of our help forum, newly renamed from "Webmasters Help Community" to "Google Search Central Community". The information related to how Google Search works, crawling and indexing, Search guidelines, and other Search-related topics are moving to our new site, which previously focused only on web developer documentation. The content move will happen over the next few days.

We will continue to create content for anyone who wants their websites to show up on Google Search, whether you're just getting started with SEO or you're an experienced web professional.

Consolidating the blogs

The blog that you're reading right now is also moving to our main site. However, we will wait one week to allow subscribers to read this last post on the old platform. Moving this blog, including our other 13 localized blogs, to one place brings the following benefits:

  • More discovery of related content (help documentation, localized blogs, event information, on one site)
  • Easier to switch between languages (no longer have to find the localized blog URL)
  • Better platform allows us to maintain content, localize blog post more easily, and format posts consistently

Going forward, all archived and new blog posts will appear on https://developers.google.com/search/blog. You don't need to take any action in order to keep getting updates from us; we will redirect the current set of RSS and email subscribers to the new blog URL.

Googlebot mascot gets a refresh

Our Googlebot mascot is also getting an upgrade. Googlebot's days of wandering the web solo come to a close as a new sidekick joins Googlebot in crawling the internet.

Googlebot mascot gets a refresh

When we first met this curious critter, we wondered, "Is it really a spider?" After some observation, we noticed this spider bot hybrid can jump great distances and sees best when surrounded by green light. We think Googlebot's new best friend is a spider from the genus Phidippus, though it seems to also have bot-like characteristics. Googlebot's been trying out new nicknames for the little spider bot, but they haven't settled on anything yet. Maybe you can help?

As parting words, update your bookmarks and if you have any questions or comments, you can find us on Twitter and in our Google Search Central Help Community.

Posted by Lizzi Harvey, Technical Writer on the Google Search Central team

Dive into Diwali at home with Google Arts & Culture

Every autumn, millions of people around the world come together for firework displays, feasts, prayer, and festivities in celebration of Diwali—the festival of lights. Millions of clay lamps illuminate homes and public spaces. Floors are covered with cheerful rangolis to bring good luck. With the food, family and festivities, Diwali is all about the experience of coming together, and the vibrant spectacle of color and light, but the global pandemic changes how we celebrate this year. Google Arts & Culture has created a virtual Diwali experience that everyone can be a part of, wherever you are in the world.

Diwali AR GIF

Festive lights in Augmented Reality

To recreate some festival fervor, try out a new Augmented Reality experience. Decorate your space virtually with diyas (lamps), detonate virtual anar (firecrackers), for some explosive, playful fun, and to learn more about these important cultural traditions.
Celebrate Diwali with Google Arts & Culture
10:25

Dive into Diwali from home

Google Arts & Culture has partnered with over 20 cultural heritage organisations to launch Diwali @ Home. Striking images and immersive online stories weave a journey through the festival of lights, its legends and folklore, and dive into the sights, sounds and smells of an iconic festival.
  • Month of Kartika.jpeg

    Month of Kartika from the collection of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya

  • Dokra Diya.jpeg

    Dokra Diya from the collection of Banglanatak

  • Radha Krishma Fireworks.jpeg

    Radha and Krishna Watching Fireworks in the Sky from the collection of National Museum, New Delhi

The color, food, festivities and nostalgia of Diwali are shared through new online exhibitions from partner institutions including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Indian Museum, National Museum and many more.

Interactive art coloring book for family fun

There’s also plenty of hands-on fun for families with interactive coloring books—in artworks inspired by traditional Indian paintings in a specially developed coloring book! Find it with Google Search, simply by searching for “Diwali” on your phone.


Lady Lighting a Lamp from the collection of Salar Jung Museum, and a page from the interactive Diwali art coloring book

Lady Lighting a Lamp from the collection of Salar Jung Museum, and a page from the interactive Diwali art coloring book

Finally, watch a video conversation between Amish Tripathi, author and Director of The Nehru Centre, and art historian broadcaster and former museum director Neil MacGregor on Diwali and why it’s particularly special this year.

So, with the help of a little Google magic, we hope our Diwali @ Home experience adds to your festive cheer as you celebrate in your own way this year, on the Google Arts & Culture app foriOS andAndroid.

Get ready for BazelCon 2020

Posted by Joe Hicks, Product Manager, Core Developer

BazelCon 2020 image

With only 24 hours to go, BazelCon 2020 is shaping up to be a much anticipated gathering for the Bazel community and broader Build ecosystem. With over 1000 attendees, presentations by Googlers, as well as talks from industry Build leaders from Twitter, Dropbox, Uber, Pinterest, GrabTaxi, and more, we hope BazelCon 2020 will provide an opportunity for knowledge sharing, networking, and community building.

I am very excited by the keynote announcements, the migration stories at Twitter, Pinterest, and CarGurus, as well as technical deep dives on Bazel persistent workers, incompatible target skipping, migrating from Gradle to Bazel, and more. The “sold out” Birds of a Feather sessions and the Live Q&A with the Bazel team will bring the community together to discuss design docs, look at landings, and provide feedback on the direction of Bazel and the entire ecosystem.

We are also pleased to announce that, starting with the next major release (4.0), Bazel will support Long Term Support (LTS) releases as well as regular Rolling releases.

Some benefits of this new release cadence are:

  • Bazel will release stable, supported LTS releases on a predictable schedule with a long window without breaking changes
  • Bazel contributors / rules owners can prepare to support future LTS releases via rolling releases.
  • Bazel users can choose the release cadence that works best for them, since we will offer both LTS releases and rolling releases.

Long Term Support (LTS) releases:

  • We will create an LTS release every ~9 months => new LTS release branch, increment major version number.
  • Each LTS release will include all new features, bug fixes and (breaking) changes since the last major version.
  • Bazel will actively support each LTS branch for 9 months with critical bug fixes, but no new features.
  • Thereafter, Bazel will provide maintenance for two additional years with only security and OS compatibility fixes.
  • Bazel Federation reboot: Bazel will provide guidance about the ruleset versions that should be used with each Bazel release so that each user will not have to manage interoperability themselves.

Make sure that you register at http://goo.gle/bazelcon to be a part of the excitement of the premier build conference!

See you all at BazelCon 2020!

By Joe Hicks and the entire Bazel Team at Google

e-Conomy Africa 2020: Understanding Africa’s $180B internet economy future


Genetic scientists study human DNA to better understand medical conditions and how to treat diseases. But their research is often based on samples that don’t actually reflect the world’s population. Around 80 percent of the human DNA used in genetic studies is from people of European descent. This means that researchers are often unable to study and address conditions that affect global ethnicities.

In January 2019, Abasi Ene-Obong, a young tech engineer from Nigeria, founded 54gene with the aim of making gene studies more representative by increasing access to African genomic data—which currently accounts for less than 3 percent of all genetic data sets. After securing two rounds of funding, 54gene has gone on to complete a fully resourced biobank in Lagos, crucial to support academic research, drug development, and disease detection.

Ene-Obong’s story is just one example of how talented African entrepreneurs are creating new opportunities across the continent. As a new report from Google and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) shows, the startup ecosystem is helping drive Africa’s internet economy towards a projected value of $180 billion by 2025, or 5.2 percent of the continent’s GDP.

We collaborated on the report—titled ”e-Conomy Africa 2020: Africa’s $180 billion internet economy future”—to highlight the strengths and challenges of the internet economy today, and to better understand where it might go in the future. Here are some other things we learned.





Startups in Africa are progressing and reaching new milestones
According to Partech Ventures Africa, African tech startups reached a new milestone in 2019 with $2.02 billion of equity funding raised. That’s 74 percent more than in 2018, and represents an average deal size of $8.08 million.

At the forefront of the internet economy’s growth are startups in sectors like financial technology (fintech), e-commerce, health, e-logistics, e-mobility and food delivery. Fintech leads the way in terms of funding, receiving 54 percent of all African startup investment in 2019. This indicates high investor trust, which is significant given the sector’s important role serving unbanked and financially excluded Africans.

One example is the Nigerian digital payments and commerce platform Interswitch, which received $200 million in equity funding from Visa in 2019, as well an IFC investment of $10.5 million. These investments came at a time of big growth for the electronics payment market, and, as a result, Interswitch has helped transform the infrastructure of Nigeria’s banking system, while extending its services to 23 other countries.

E-commerce startups have also shown strong growth, thanks to improved digital payment services and a rise in mobile technology and payment channels. In 2019, e-commerce accounted for $134 million in funding across 30 deals--a 36 percent increase in the number of deals compared with 2018. With COVID-19-mandated lockdowns in countries across the continent, consumers have quickly gotten much more used to e-commerce, and their new online shopping behavior may well extend beyond the pandemic.




Young developer talent is shaping the future
The African developer scene boasts 700,000 professional software developers, many of them trained through university programs, others self-taught.

There’s an enormous amount of talent, but these developers need help to find jobs and take their ideas forward.

Coding classes, like those offered by Google, Decagon, Gebeya and others, are helping close knowledge and skills gaps, while professional communities continue to grow. There are more than 160 active Google Developer Groups and 200 Developer Student Clubs in Sub-Saharan Africa, offering training and support to help developers meet job requirements. And since its launch in 2018, the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa program has worked with 47 startups from 17 African countries—helping them develop products and build successful companies and products. One of the 2016 global accelerator graduates, Nigerian fintech startup Paystack, was recently acquired by Stripe for over $200 million.

IFC is also playing its part to advance digital skills development, making investments in regional startups and accelerators that cultivate tech talent. Gebeya—a company IFC supports in Ethiopia—has trained over 500 young software developers, most of whom are women, and is providing seed funding to 30 graduates to pursue their own digital ventures. IFC investee Flat6Labs is fostering tech entrepreneurship (and women entrepreneurs in particular) by directing early stage funding to startups in both Egypt and Tunisia.

Whether it's helping startups grow, training developers or providing tools for small businesses, both Google and IFC are committing to bringing the benefits of technology to millions more people across this extraordinary continent. We invite you to read the report and learn more about the opportunities unfolding throughout Africa’s thriving internet economy.





Posted by Nitin Gajria, Regional Director, Sub-saharan Africa, Google Africa and Sérgio Pimenta, Vice President, Middle East & Africa, IFC


 ==== 

Joining the European Commission’s Pact for Skills

During the pandemic, online tools have been a lifeline, helping us to stay connected, learn and work remotely and support local businesses. These same tools are vital to help Europe’s economic recovery, where we see an urgent need for new sets of digital skills. In fact, research conducted by Google and The McKinsey Global Institute before COVID-19 shows that, to ensure job creation, more than 90 million workers may need to develop significant new skills.


The pandemic has only accelerated this trend. Google has responded by renewing our commitment to skills training through our Grow with Google program, which has trained millions of people on digital skills since it was founded five years ago, and contributed to two million Europeans finding a new job or growing their business or career. Since lockdowns started in March, we’ve trained an additional one million people in Europe alone. This includes Korina in Greece, who after attending our local training, went on to build an app that connects farmers in need for support with workers looking for jobs. Or Noemi in Italy, who learned new skills so she could help local small businesses to digitize and grow. 

Supporting Europe’s Pact for Skills

This would not have been possible without our many partners across Europe—from e-learning experts and universities, to governments, chambers of commerce and trade unions. This is why we’re proud to support the European Commission’s newly launched Pact for Skills—an approach that brings together the public and private sectors, social partners, education, training and employment agencies to help people across Europe learn new skills.


As part of this commitment, we’re providing scholarships for 100,000 people in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to take the new Google Career Certificates hosted on Coursera. These certificates will prepare learners with no prior experience to apply for jobs in high-growth career areas such as IT support, project management, user experience and design, and data analytics. The programs are product agnostic and are designed to help people prepare for jobs at any company, in any sector. We’ll be working with our partners in the coming months to launch these certificates and make them available all over Europe and beyond. 

Economic recovery that works for everyone

Research shows that some groups will be disproportionately affected, with those without a tertiary education (e.g. university degree) being twice as likely to have their jobs at risk as those with a university degree.


To address this, we are dedicating fifty thousand of these scholarships to members of underserved groups who face significant social and economic barriers to accessing and completing these courses.


As part of this effort, Google.org is giving an initial grant of €4.6 million to INCO to work with local nonprofit partners across 17 European countries. Together, they will provide learners with wrap-around services at every step of the learning journey, including career advice, interview preparation, childcare vouchers, learning groups, language support and peer-to-peer networks.


Of course, training is just the first step. To connect people with in-demand skills with real job opportunities, we’re also gathering a consortium of companies interested in hiring people who have earned Google Career Certificates. We're excited to be joined by members such as Bayer and ARD, and we’re inviting all types of businesses to join Google in this initiative. 


As Europe faces the next phase of this pandemic, we’re as committed as ever to working together on these pressing challenges. By supporting this flagship initiative under the European Skills Agenda, we look forward to helping to build an economic recovery that is digital, sustainable and that works for everyone.

Say G’day to Aussie AR Animals

Australia is home to some of the most magnificent creatures in the animal kingdom: birds that laugh, duck-billed monotremes and marsupials that smile, hop and sleep for ~20 hours a day. They can’t be found in the wild anywhere else in the world. Until now. 

With AR on Google, you can meet eight life-sized Aussie animals up close and bring them into your backyard, living room, classroom—or take them on your adventures. Just search for koala, kangaroo, quokka, wombat, platypus, emu, kookaburra or echidna on your mobile browser (Android or iOS) or in the Google App and tap “View in 3D.”

YouTube video: Aussie AR Animals
10:25

You’ll be able to see their life-size scale, detail, movement—and even hear their sounds on Android devices (sounds are coming soon to iOS too). You’ll also be able to capture content of these Aussie icons.

Woman looking at a koala in AR

Our fascination with Aussie creatures, especially koalas, has been on the rise this year. During Australia’s devastating bushfires—which endangered thousands of koalas—search interest for koalas hit an all-time high globally in January and we even worried they may be extinct (thankfully, we can confirm they aren’t). 


Here’s a list of the top worldwide trending questions this year so far for the Aussie AR animals you’ll now get to meet in Search: 


  1. Are koalas extinct 2020?

  2. What does a baby platypus look like?

  3. Can an emu fly?

  4. How many koalas have died?

  5. How big are wombats?

  6. Are koalas friendly?

  7. How do koalas drink water?

  8. What does the inside of a kangaroo pouch look like?

  9. Can koalas be pets?

  10. How are baby kangaroos born?


While most of us can’t travel to the Aussie outback right now, you can learn about these animals from the comfort of your couch or picnic rug.  Search for these Aussie AR animals on your mobile or tablet today so you can paddle with a platypus, cackle with a kookaburra and meet your new mARsupial mates!

Source: Search


Say G’day to Aussie AR Animals

Australia is home to some of the most magnificent creatures in the animal kingdom: birds that laugh, duck-billed monotremes and marsupials that smile, hop and sleep for ~20 hours a day. They can’t be found in the wild anywhere else in the world. Until now. 

With AR on Google, you can meet eight life-sized Aussie animals up close and bring them into your backyard, living room, classroom—or take them on your adventures. Just search for koala, kangaroo, quokka, wombat, platypus, emu, kookaburra or echidna on your mobile browser (Android or iOS) or in the Google App and tap “View in 3D.”

YouTube video: Aussie AR Animals
10:25

You’ll be able to see their life-size scale, detail, movement—and even hear their sounds on Android devices (sounds are coming soon to iOS too). You’ll also be able to capture content of these Aussie icons.

Woman looking at a koala in AR

Our fascination with Aussie creatures, especially koalas, has been on the rise this year. During Australia’s devastating bushfires—which endangered thousands of koalas—search interest for koalas hit an all-time high globally in January and we even worried they may be extinct (thankfully, we can confirm they aren’t). 


Here’s a list of the top worldwide trending questions this year so far for the Aussie AR animals you’ll now get to meet in Search: 


  1. Are koalas extinct 2020?

  2. What does a baby platypus look like?

  3. Can an emu fly?

  4. How many koalas have died?

  5. How big are wombats?

  6. Are koalas friendly?

  7. How do koalas drink water?

  8. What does the inside of a kangaroo pouch look like?

  9. Can koalas be pets?

  10. How are baby kangaroos born?


While most of us can’t travel to the Aussie outback right now, you can learn about these animals from the comfort of your couch or picnic rug.  Search for these Aussie AR animals on your mobile or tablet today so you can paddle with a platypus, cackle with a kookaburra and meet your new mARsupial mates!

Source: Search


Say G’day to Aussie AR Animals

Australia is home to some of the most magnificent creatures in the animal kingdom: birds that laugh, duck-billed monotremes and marsupials that smile, hop and sleep for ~20 hours a day. They can’t be found in the wild anywhere else in the world. Until now. 

With AR on Google, you can meet eight life-sized Aussie animals up close and bring them into your backyard, living room, classroom—or take them on your adventures. Just search for koala, kangaroo, quokka, wombat, platypus, emu, kookaburra or echidna on your mobile browser (Android or iOS) or in the Google App and tap “View in 3D.”

YouTube video: Aussie AR Animals
10:25

You’ll be able to see their life-size scale, detail, movement—and even hear their sounds on Android devices (sounds are coming soon to iOS too). You’ll also be able to capture content of these Aussie icons.

Woman looking at a koala in AR

Our fascination with Aussie creatures, especially koalas, has been on the rise this year. During Australia’s devastating bushfires—which endangered thousands of koalas—search interest for koalas hit an all-time high globally in January and we even worried they may be extinct (thankfully, we can confirm they aren’t). 


Here’s a list of the top worldwide trending questions this year so far for the Aussie AR animals you’ll now get to meet in Search: 


  1. Are koalas extinct 2020?

  2. What does a baby platypus look like?

  3. Can an emu fly?

  4. How many koalas have died?

  5. How big are wombats?

  6. Are koalas friendly?

  7. How do koalas drink water?

  8. What does the inside of a kangaroo pouch look like?

  9. Can koalas be pets?

  10. How are baby kangaroos born?


While most of us can’t travel to the Aussie outback right now, you can learn about these animals from the comfort of your couch or picnic rug.  Search for these Aussie AR animals on your mobile or tablet today so you can paddle with a platypus, cackle with a kookaburra and meet your new mARsupial mates!

Source: Search


Understanding Africa’s $180B internet economy future

Genetic scientists study human DNA to better understand medical conditions and how to treat diseases. But their research is often based on samples that don’t actually reflect the world’s population. Around 80 percent of the human DNA used in genetic studies is from people of European descent. This means that researchers are often unable to study and address conditions that affect global ethnicities. 

In January 2019, Abasi Ene-Obong, a young tech engineer from Nigeria, founded 54gene with the aim of making gene studies more representative by increasing access to African genomic data—which currently accounts for less than 3 percent of all genetic data sets. After securing two rounds of funding, 54gene has gone on to complete a fully resourced biobank in Lagos, crucial to support academic research, drug development, and disease detection.

Ene-Obong’s story is just one example of how talented African entrepreneurs are creating new opportunities across the continent. As a new report from Google and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) shows, the startup ecosystem is helping drive Africa’s internet economy towards a projected value of $180 billion by 2025, or 5.2 percent of the continent’s GDP. 

We collaborated on the report—titled ”e-Conomy Africa 2020: Africa’s $180 billion internet economy future”—to highlight the strengths and challenges of the internet economy today, and to better understand where it might go in the future. Here are some other things we learned. 

Startups in Africa are progressing and reaching new milestones

According to Partech Ventures Africa, African tech startups reached a new milestone in 2019 with $2.02 billion of equity funding raised. That’s 74 percent more than in 2018, and represents an average deal size of $8.08 million.  

At the forefront of the internet economy’s growth are startups in sectors like financial technology (fintech),  e-commerce, health, e-logistics, e-mobility and food delivery. Fintech leads the way in terms of funding, receiving 54 percent of all African startup investment in 2019. This indicates high investor trust, which is significant given the sector’s important role serving unbanked and financially excluded Africans.

One example is the Nigerian digital payments and commerce platform Interswitch, which received $200 million in equity funding from Visa in 2019, as well an IFC investment of $10.5 million. These investments came at a time of big growth for the electronics payment market, and, as a result, Interswitch has helped transform the infrastructure of Nigeria’s banking system, while extending its services to 23 other countries. 

E-commerce startups have also shown strong growth, thanks to improved digital payment services and a rise in mobile technology and payment channels. In 2019, e-commerce accounted for $134 million in funding across 30 deals--a 36 percent increase in the number of deals compared with 2018. With COVID-19-mandated lockdowns in countries across the continent, consumers have quickly gotten much more used to e-commerce, and their new online shopping behavior may well extend beyond the pandemic.

Infographic on Africa's internet economy

Young developer talent is shaping the future 

The African developer scene boasts 700,000 professional software developers, many of them trained through university programs, others self-taught. 

There’s an enormous amount of talent, but these developers need help to find jobs and take their ideas forward. 

Coding classes, like those offered by Google, Decagon, Gebeya and others, are helping close knowledge and skills gaps, while professional communities continue to grow.  There are more than 160 active Google Developer Groups and 200 Developer Student Clubs in Sub-Saharan Africa, offering training and support to help developers meet job requirements. And since its launch in 2018, theGoogle for Startups Accelerator Africa program has worked with 47 startups from 17 African countries—helping them develop products and build successful companies and products. One of the 2016 global accelerator graduates, Nigerian fintech startup Paystack, was recently acquired by Stripe for over $200 million.

IFC is also playing its part to advance digital skills development, making investments in regional startups and accelerators that cultivate tech talent. Gebeya—a company IFC supports in Ethiopia—has trained over 500 young software developers, most of whom are women, and is providing seed funding to 30 graduates to pursue their own digital ventures. IFC investee Flat6Labs is fostering tech entrepreneurship (and women entrepreneurs in particular) by directing early stage funding to startups in both Egypt and Tunisia.

Whether it's helping startups grow, training developers or providing tools for small businesses, both Google and IFC are committing to bringing the benefits of technology to millions more people across this extraordinary continent. We invite you to read the report and learn more about the opportunities unfolding throughout Africa’s thriving internet economy.