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With its colorful hammocks and ping pong table, a new technology center in the metropolis of Lagos would be out of place among start-ups on the other side of the world in Silicon Valley.
But the NG_Hub office is in the suburbs of Yaba – the heart of Nigeria's burgeoning tech scene that attracts the attention of global giants eager to tap into an emerging market of connected young Africans.
In May, Google and Facebook launched initiatives nearby. [19659002Theseworldleader-presidentofNigeriaYemiOsinbajowasinCaliforniaforfairelourthesuccessorofAmericantechnologiespourofthesuccesswouldnotannouncea"fourthindustrialevolution"intheircountry
ButNigeria is not the only one
Last month, Google announced the opening of Africa's first artificial intelligence lab. in Accra, the capital of Ghana
Demographics is a key factor: the African population is estimated at 1.2 billion inhabitants, 60 percent by 2050, the United Nations estimate that the population will double to 2.4 billion.
"There is a clear opportunity for companies like Facebook and Google to come in and put a foot in the sand," said Daniel Ives, a technology researcher at GBH Insights in New York.
"If you look at Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, where does this growth come from? It's international," he told AFP
Facebook operates from the NG_Hub because it does not exist. Is not yet a permanent office in Nigeria.
The head of the company's public policy, Ebele Okobi, said at the opening of The social network is committed to training 50,000 people across the country to "give them the digital skills they need to succeed, "she added.
In exchange, Facebook, which currently has some 26 million users in Nigeria, is getting more users and access to a mbadive market to test new products and strategies.
"We are invested in the ecosystem, just the fact that they engage … in and of itself is a goal," she added.
Cyber colonialism?
Many African governments have enthusiastically embraced the titans of technology.
In California, Osinbajo said the Nigerian government would actively support Google's "Next Billion Users" plan to "ensure better digital access in Nigeria and around the world."
Few sectors in Africa arouse as much hope as technology. the potential to revolutionize everything from health to agriculture.
Examples Ubenwa, a Nigerian start-up that has been described as "Shazam for Babies", after the app that identifies music and scraps movies.
Ubenwa badyzes a baby crying using AI to diagnose asphyxia at birth, a leading cause of death in Africa when babies do not get enough oxygen and nutrients before, during or immediately after the birth.
Detecting the problem early could save thousands "Africans should be responsible for finding solutions," said Tewodros Abebe, a PhD student studying language technology at the University of Addis Ababa , in Ethiopia.
"If we are not involved, no one can understand the existing problems on our continent."
Abebe dismissed fears that what Facebook and Google are doing is a form of so-called cyber-colonialism.
"Working collaboratively I think is a good way of transferring technology to Africa," he said. "They're only looking for business, it's colonization."
& # 39; Epocalypse Now & # 39;
As the technology sector in Africa grows, fueled by growth in the use of mobile phones, governments
Osinbajo told technical leaders that Nigeria was eager to create the good environment for development, including for regulation.
But the privacy debate is unobtrusive in many African countries, unlike Europe which recently
Facebook has also been at the center of a storm for failing to protect the data users in relation to allegations of manipulation during the 2016 US presidential election and the Brexit referendum.
Global Justice Now, an anti-poverty group, fears that technology companies will have the flexibility to create a global surveillance state.
"We could find ourselves sleepwalking towards a world in which a handful of companies This group exercises monopoly control over large parts of the global economy, further exacerbating the inequality between North and South" , said the militant group in a May 2018 report entitled "Epocalypse Now"
.The Foundation in Geneva that fights for digital equality, said that this has not materialized but that 39, there were pressing concerns.
"The message is that Africa needs investments and that it needs to develop these industries. "Avila, a researcher in digital rights."
"But there is little surveillance," she added, warning that without regulation, people were vulnerable to exploitation.
Published in the Daily Times, July 16 th 2018.
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