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LAGOS: 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. Silicon Valley.
But the NG_Hub office is located 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.
Nigeria Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was in California this week to court US technology investors for what he said could announce 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 Africa's first artificial intelligence lab in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
Demography is a key driver of the drive: Africa's population is estimated at 1.2 billion, of which 60% are under 24 years old. By the year 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 this growth come from?" He was international, "he told AFP.
Facebook operates from the NG_Hub because it does not have a permanent office in Nigeria yet.
Ebele Okobi, head of public policy in Africa, said at the opening of the premises that the goal was to cultivate the emerging technology 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 exchange, 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, just the fact that they engage … that in itself is a goal," she added.
Cyber colonialism?
Many African governments have enthusiastically embraced the titans of technology.
In California, Mr. Osinbajo said the Nigerian government will "actively support" the "Next Billion" plan "Google's Users for" Ensuring Better Digital Access in Nigeria and the World. "
Few Areas in Africa Inspire as Much Hope as Technology, which Has the Potential to Revolutionize Everything, Health Care
Examples include Ubenwa, a Nigerian startup that has been described as "Shazam for Babies", after the app that identifies music and movies from snippets. [19659002] Ubenwa badyzes the cry of a baby using the AI to diagnose asph yxie at birth, a major cause of death in Africa when babies do not get enough oxygen and nutrients before, during or immediately after birth.
Detecting the problem earlier 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 existing on our continent."
Abebe rejected 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."
& quot; Epocalypse Now & # 39;
As the African technology sector grows, fueled by the growth of mobile phone use, governments protect the personal data of its 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 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 find ourselves sleepy in a world in which a handful of technology companies are monopolistically controlling large parts of the global economy, further exacerbating inequalities between North and South." 2018 report entitled "Epocalypse Now".
Renata Avila, of the World Wide Web Foundation in Geneva, who fights 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. , researcher in digital rights.
"But there is little surveillance," she added, warning that without regulation, people were vulnerable to exploitation. – AFP
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