Google has partnered with Idris Elba to launch a $1 million initiative that will give about 100,000 African creators free access to artificial intelligence (AI) tools, as part of efforts to boost the continent’s growing creative economy.
The programme, announced at Google’s AI Summit in Johannesburg, is a collaboration with the Elba Hope Foundation and will support creators in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Sierra Leone.
Participants will receive access to Google Gemini and other AI-powered digital products designed to help them create content faster, lower production costs and compete globally.
The initiative targets filmmakers, musicians, writers, designers and digital content creators, while also providing AI education and digital skills training to help participants integrate artificial intelligence into content creation and business growth.
Explaining the motivation behind the programme, Google’s Senior Vice President for Research and Technology, James Manyika, said artificial intelligence could help creators overcome financial barriers that often limit their ambitions.
We think about all those creatives who do not have access to these enormous studio budgets. AI is potentially a tool that can enable them to do work that they couldn’t otherwise do because they don’t have huge budgets.
Speaking via video link during the summit, Idris Elba said the initiative is about creating opportunities for talented Africans who lack access to the resources needed to succeed.
The barrier is not a lack of vision. It is a lack of access. Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not.
The partnership builds on Elba’s wider efforts to invest in Africa’s creative industries.
The English actor has previously announced plans to establish creative infrastructure on the continent, including a creative village in Ghana and a film studio complex in Zanzibar, while Google continues expanding its AI ecosystem across Africa.