Silicon Valley sees Africa as a new technological frontier :: Kenya

With its colorful hammocks and ping-pong table, a new technology center in the metropolis of Lagos would not shy away from placing among start-ups on the other side of the world in Silicon Valley.

But the NG_Hub office is located in the suburbs of Yaba – the heart of Nigeria's burgeoning tech scene that is attracting the interest of global giants eager to tap into an emerging market of connected young Africans.

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In May, Google and Facebook launched initiatives nearby.

This week, Nigeria's Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was in California to court US technology investors for what he said could herald a "fourth industrial revolution" in his country.

But it's not just Nigeria that stings the interest of tech giants.

Last month, Google announced the opening of the first artificial intelligence laboratory in Africa to Accra, the capital of Ghana

Demographics is a key factor: the African population is estimated at 1.2 billion, 60% of whom are under 24 years of age. In 2050, the UN estimates that the population will double to 2.4 billion.

"There is an opportunity for companies like Facebook and Google to really go ahead and put a foot in the sand," said Daniel Ives, a technology researcher at GBH Insights at New York.

"If you look at Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, where does a lot of that growth come from?" He is international, "he told AFP.

Facebook operates from the NG_Hub because it does not have a permanent office in Nigeria yet.

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Ebele Okobi, head of public policy for Africa, said at the inauguration that the goal was to cultivate the emerging tech community.

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 return, Facebook, which currently has some 26 million users in Nigeria, gets more users and accesses a mbadive market to test new products and strategies.

"We are invested in the ecosystem, but the fact that they engage … it is in itself a goal," she added.

Cyber ​​colonialism?

Many African governments have embraced technological titans with enthusiasm.

In California, Osinbajo said the Nigerian government will "actively support" Google's Next Billion Users plan to "ensure better digital access in Nigeria and around the world."

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Few sectors in Africa inspire as much hope as technology, which has the potential to revolutionize everything from health care to agriculture.

Examples include Ubenwa, a Nigerian start-up that has been described as "Shazam for Babies", after the app that identifies music and snippet movies.

Ubenwa badyzes a baby's cry using the AI ​​to diagnose asphyxia at birth, a leading cause of death in Africa when babies are not getting enough oxygen and nutrients before, during or immediately after birth.

Early detection of the problem could save thousands of lives.

"Africans should be responsible for finding solutions," said Tewodros Abebe, a PhD student studying language technology at the University of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

"Unless we are involved, no one can understand the problems that exist 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 to transfer technology to Africa," he said. "They're only looking for business, it's colonization."

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As the technology sector in Africa grows, fueled by the growth of mobile phone use, governments are increasingly putting pressure to protect the personal data of their citizens.

Osinbajo told technology leaders that Nigeria was eager to create the right environment for development, including for regulation.

But the debate on privacy is unobtrusive in many African countries, unlike Europe, which has recently pbaded new, stricter data protection laws.

Facebook was also at the center of a storm for failing to protect user data related to manipulation allegations during the 2016 US presidential election and the Brexit referendum.

Global Justice Now, an anti-poverty group, fears that technology companies will be left free to create a global surveillance state.

"We could be sleepy towards a world in which a handful of technology companies are monopolistically controlling large parts of the global economy, further exacerbating inequalities between the North and the South," he said. Report 2018 group entitled "Epocalypse Now".

Renata Avila, of the World Wide Web Foundation in Geneva, who advocates for digital equality, said that this has not materialized but that there were pressing concerns.

"The message is that Africa needs investments and that it needs to develop these industries, so it's usually a pro-business narrative," Avila said. , a researcher in digital rights.

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"But there is little surveillance," she added, warning that without regulation, people were vulnerable to exploitation.