A huge project for the Internet giant Google in African countries would develop the field of information technology, but will the continent really benefit? Will Google support the economic development of the continent, or does it want to take over its technology markets?
The African continent remains a fertile ground for foreign investments because of the markets it has in which there is no great competition. Huge foreign companies from several economic powers are trying to find a foothold in the countries of the continent, especially in the west and center, and the last to join this race is the Internet giant Google, which announced a while ago Investing a billion dollars in Africa.
Resorting to the continent remains important for many foreign companies in this circumstance, which has witnessed a significant decline in the rate of foreign direct investment across the world due to the Corona pandemic, as it decreased by 35 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, and Africa can represent a starting point for foreign companies to restore life. to investment, especially due to the low material costs.
The countries that Google will head to are Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana, and its investments will focus on Internet connectivity and support for startups. There are those who believe that this step is important and shows that multinational companies are taking seriously the potential of the continent, according to what Nigerian economist Shaibu Idris confirms to DW.
But not everyone agrees with his optimism, as the Ghanaian technology expert, Maximus Amtraguh, points out the need to measure the pros and cons of Google's move, saying that a number of technology giants, first start investing in small companies, and then acquire them later. It highlights that the policies of some of these giants are to "kill" smaller companies after owning their main products.
According to the same expert, in his interview with DW, this means that African countries will eventually return to agricultural activity as a predominant activity on life, noting that the problem is not in what Google proposed, but in the need to assess the lasting impact of the investment, and in the need to answer the question: Will Google own the startups That you will invest in or will leave ownership of the people of the country?
The expert also wonders, will Google leave these companies to plan their own path, or will it push them to adopt the model of its economic system, and thus Africa loses opportunities for development and becomes just a womb for creating ideas and values that end up in favor of an Internet giant coming from the West?
Investment is more important than foreign aid
Political analyst Akko John Akko from Cameroon does not argue the importance of both for growth, but he asserts that investment is better for Africa, firstly because it does not deepen indebtedness, and secondly with regard to the number of jobs that will be created in the benefiting companies.
But Shaibu Idris disagrees with him, saying that the two are equally important to the African continent, which had a bleak history with the West due to colonialism and slavery. He adds that there is no better time than now for Africa to benefit from both, referring in another context to the way Europe rose after World War II.
In order for Google's investment to be successful, John Akko spoke of the need to support information technology infrastructure, pointing out that the continent needs to combat illiteracy in this field by building specialized schools and universities, especially since several countries do not have any educational institution that teaches a similar specialization.
However, the investment that Africa needs should not be limited to what is technological. Other experts such as Shaibu Idris highlight that priority should also be given to agriculture and mines, which are areas in which the continent has positive competition, not only for the production and export of raw materials, but also for supporting the chain The entire production on the continent.
Investment challenges
The biggest thing that the African continent suffers from is political and economic instability, the spread of corruption and bad governance, and weak infrastructure, but also, in return, the continent has young human resources that can convince the giants of the economy to invest and overcome challenges, especially the challenge of corruption, according to Idris.
But there are those who see that the challenge is not related to Africa, but to the unequal organization of the global system, and Maximus Amtraguh says that there are fears that the Google group, one of the three largest Internet groups in the world, will control the current economic structures in Africa.
Another challenge is that Google's project does not focus on all of Africa, but only on four out of 54 countries on the continent, so experts do not see that the impact will be on the whole of Africa. Amtraguh believes that the project does not give the required balance, but also choosing some countries such as Nigeria, due to its large population, makes the number of beneficiaries equal to other countries combined with less population than Nigeria, the speaker adds.
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