By Modupe Gbadeyanka

An initiative providing equity-free capital, technical support, and expert mentorship aimed at empowering African game developers with the skills and resources they need to thrive has been launched by Google Play.

Tagged Indie Games Fund, Google Play is committing $1 million for the scheme, with calls for entries expected to close on July 31, 2026.

Applications are open to independent game developers across 32 countries in Africa, including Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo (DRC), Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

They must be officially registered and based within the eligible African countries. They must also operate as a private, non-publicly listed independent studio with 50 or fewer employees, and must have already launched a mobile, PC, or console game.

Final selections and the announcement of the 10 chosen studios will take place in September. Selected studios must commit to making their game available on Google Play and participating non-exclusively in the Google Play Pass subscription programme for two years.

Business Post gathered that selected studios will receive a share of the $1 million fund, with individual allocations ranging from $50,000 to $200,000 to expand and elevate their games.

In addition to financial backing, recipients will benefit from dedicated, hands-on mentorship from industry experts, and studios will receive direct guidance to optimise their games, refine their technical frameworks, and boost market discoverability

While the African region is rich in creative talent and home to some of the world’s most compelling storytelling, limited access to capital has too often held back promising game studios.

This programme addresses that barrier, delivering the critical financial and technical resources required for African indie developers to refine their creative visions, optimise their games, and share uniquely African stories with a global audience.

“Africa’s unique creativity has fuelled a vibrant game development scene. Bringing this fund to the continent underscores our commitment to unlocking the immense talent of local studios, providing the resources needed to scale businesses, refine creative visions, and share uniquely African stories with a global audience,” the Managing Director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Google Play, Mr Ben McOwen Wilson, stated.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

To accelerate Nigeria’s digital future, the chief executive of Airtel Nigeria, Mr Dinesh Balsingh, has advocated the adoption of intelligent technology platforms that drive innovation, productivity, and sustainable economic growth.

According to him, the future lies in intelligent ecosystems powered by artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), satellite connectivity, and integrated enterprise solutions.

He submitted that the telecommunications industry is evolving beyond connectivity to become the foundation for enterprise transformation and the country’s digital economy.

“The role of telecommunications has fundamentally changed. Businesses are no longer asking only for connectivity; they want solutions that improve productivity, strengthen security, and accelerate digital transformation. That is the journey Airtel is leading.

“We are evolving from a telecommunications company into a technology partner that helps organisations unlock growth and create long-term value,” Mr Balsingh said at the Lagos Business School (LBS) Breakfast Club on the theme, From Telco to Techno.

Noting that value is no longer measured by the volume of data consumed but by the business outcomes technology delivers, he highlighted a key shift in telecommunications to AI-powered customer protections, industry-specific digital solutions, IoT platforms, and hybrid satellite-terrestrial networks that extend reliable connectivity to underserved communities and remote business locations.

“Technology should do more than connect people. It should protect them, simplify operations, and help businesses make better decisions. Investments are now focused on building smarter, more resilient digital infrastructure that supports organisations across every sector of the economy,” he further stated, adding that sectors, including retail, education, healthcare, government, manufacturing, and oil and gas, increasingly require integrated digital solutions that combine connectivity with cloud services, intelligent networking, surveillance, automation, and data analytics.

Mr Balsingh also urged business leaders to rethink their digital priorities, noting that future competitiveness will depend on how connected, intelligent, secure, automated, and resilient their organisations become.

“The organisations that will lead the next decade are those that invest today in intelligent digital infrastructure. Our customers are no longer buying connectivity alone. They are investing in productivity, intelligence, and digital transformation,” the Airtel Nigeria chief said.

The session, which also featured the IMF Resident Representative for Nigeria, Mr Christian Ebeke, formed part of the Lagos Business School Breakfast Club, a platform that brings together business executives and industry leaders to examine emerging trends shaping the future of enterprise and economic development.

Airtel Nigeria’s participation reinforced its commitment to supporting Nigeria’s digital transformation by enabling businesses with innovative technologies that improve efficiency, strengthen resilience, and unlock new opportunities for growth across the country’s rapidly evolving digital economy.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Five major new initiatives focused on bridging the digital divide, expanding subsea connectivity, and positioning Africa to lead in the Agentic Era of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been unveiled by Google.

These initiatives were introduced by the firm at its inaugural Cloud Summit in Africa at the Sandton Convention Centre in South Africa.

The event, which was opened by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, was attended by about 3,000 business leaders, developers, public sector leaders, and partners.

Anchored by the central theme, Building for Africa with Google Cloud, the summit builds upon Google’s 2025 launch of its Johannesburg Cloud Region.

“By building robust infrastructure to harness this technology, we are doing more than modernising our economy; we are taking a quantum leap into the future,” Mr Ramaphosa said.

Also speaking, Google’s Senior Vice President for Research, Labs, Technology & Society, Mr James Manyika, said, “The AI opportunity for Africa is significant, and Google is committed to doing our part working with Africans to help Africa realise it. Building on our past commitments, we’re making new investments in critical areas: infrastructure, African-led innovation, and education and skill building.”

On her part, Google Cloud’s Vice President for the UK, Ireland, and Sub-Saharan Africa, Ms Maureen Costello, said, “African enterprises have moved decisively past the initial phases of AI experimentation. Powered by our Johannesburg Cloud Region, which is estimated to contribute $90.6 billion in additional gross economic output and support 314,900 jobs by 2030, leading organisations like Vodacom, Discovery, Pepkor, and Naspers are establishing the essential framework to build and deploy autonomous agents that solve uniquely African challenges in real-world environments.”

It was gathered that the five new initiatives build on Google’s existing $1 billion investment commitment, its recent $37 million AI skills and research funding, and the launch of the AI Community Centre in Accra last year to advance AI in Africa.

Google announced a new connectivity hub (Digital Exchange Port) located in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It will anchor the country as a strategic international switching point, directly connecting the continent to Australia via the Umoja subsea cable, as well as a new subsea route to India, to support African internet connectivity.

In Ghana, Google AI Futures Fund, Google Research, and leading VC partners are launching Africa’s first applied AI lab. The Google Africa Applied AI Lab pairs African founders with Google researchers and provides early access to Google’s latest AI models. Based at the Accra AI Community Centre (AICC), the Lab supports founders from across the continent in using the latest AI research to address real-world, uniquely African challenges across work, knowledge, creativity, entertainment, and software development – and, in turn, helps support Africa’s first generation of AI-native unicorn startups. Applications are open now and will close on August 31, 2026.

Google is partnering with The Akuna Group to empower underrepresented creators in Africa. Backed by more than $1 million in Google.org funding, the program delivers AI creative education alongside advanced digital tools. The program’s goal is to equip African creators to tell locally rooted stories in new ways and forge professional advancement pathways.

To ensure the next generation is equipped to lead in the AI era, Google’s Economic and Community Development programme and WeThinkCode have committed to building a R3 million digital innovation centre at the George Tabor Campus of South West Gauteng TVET College in Soweto. Once complete, the centre will serve as a scalable skills platform built to reach talent the industry usually overlooks.

On July 21, 2026, Google will open applications for the 2026 South African cohort of its Google for Startups Accelerator. The program will select 15 local startups for an AI-focused curriculum, hands-on mentorship, and non-dilutive, equity-free funding. This fulfils part of Google’s pledge to back 50 African ventures between 2024 and 2028.