Africa’s Fledgling AI Hopes Get USD 2 M Push As Google.org Backs SA's WeThinkCode

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Africa’s Fledgling AI Hopes Get USD 2 M Push As Google.org Backs SA’s WeThinkCode

South African coding academy WeThinkCode has secured a USD 2 M grant from Google.org to scale its AI skills training programmes across South Africa and Kenya.

It’s a significant boost to Africa’s rising role in the global digital economy as the move signals not just philanthropic goodwill, but a strategic investment in plugging one of the continent’s most pressing talent gaps: AI readiness.

The funding will empower 12,000 learners—half of them in non-technical roles—to gain practical AI knowledge through a new curriculum designed to meet both the region’s socio-economic realities and its future-of-work ambitions.

The initiative couldn’t be more timely. According to a SAP report cited by the academy, 90% of African companies are already feeling the pain of AI skills shortages, manifesting as delayed projects, abandoned innovations, and lost business.

Founded in 2015 by Arlene Mulder, Camille Agon and Yossi Hasson, WeThinkCode has earned a reputation for its tuition-free, aptitude-based tech training model that targets youth from underserved backgrounds.

This new AI programme is an extension of that mission, with a dual-track approach. One stream will train 6,000 aspiring and early-career software engineers to integrate AI tools into their development workflows.

The other will equip 6,000 junior professionals in fields like healthcare, education, and law to use AI for everyday productivity; think automating admin tasks, synthesising data, and supercharging routine work.

Courses will be delivered in 40 to 80-hour modules, both in-person and online, with local language support built into WeThinkCode’s upgraded learning platform.

The programme will also tap into the academy’s corporate partnerships in finance, telecoms, and tech consulting to help learners showcase their new capabilities—and crucially, get hired.

The grant also positions Google among a growing list of tech giants and VCs betting on Africa’s AI potential. Last year, Nigerian startup JADA raised USD 1 M to train mid-career data professionals in AI leadership roles. Taken together, these efforts suggest that Africa’s AI talent pipeline is coming together.

“We don’t just want to prepare young people for jobs,” said Nyari Samushonga, CEO of WeThinkCode. “We want them to shape the future of work itself.”