Google holds first ever South African developer summit

Google yesterday held its first South African Developer Summit. The event, which was the latest in its series of Sub-Saharan African developer events, was designed to bring developers from around the country up-to-date with the latest Google developer tools.

According to Google, the developer summits are an opportunity for Google to assist developers across the world to build better web and Android applications. The Developer Summit in Cape Town was the last leg of a three-city African tour. Developer Summits were also held in Lagos, Nigeria on 19 August, and Nairobi, Kenya on 22 August.

The summit featured Google employees and experts from around the world working with developers in hands-on workshops and code-labs, and giving talks. A huge part of the summit focused on technologies that will help South African developers build web and Android apps that can engage the next billion internet users.

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Other areas of focus for the summit were how developers can build websites that deliver a great experience 
for users with unreliable internet connectivity, Material Design, and a new technology: push notifications for the web.

Google Developer Relations Program Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa Emeka Afigbo says being a growth engine for Africa’s digital ecosystem is core to Google’s operations on the continent.

“With programmes such as the Google Developer’s Summit, Google is looking to grow the skills of developers in Africa. The digital ecosystem in sub-Saharan Africa has seen massive growth in the past few years. Because of this explosion, many of these tech startups who are building the kinds of products that are actually getting traction find themselves needing new talent,” Afigbo says.

Google Developer Relations Regional Manager for Africa and Middle East, Andy Volk discussing Google’s ongoing efforts to grow Africa’s digital ecosystem, points to the Google Developer Groups (GDGs).

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“The GDGs are independent developer communities made up of developers who are interested in upskilling themselves on Google’s tools and platforms. In South Africa, there are ten active GDGs, not just in city centres and universities, but increasingly in the townships as well. Through the GDGs, we are reaching developers in Athlone, and now Khayelitsha as well.”

“It’s through programmes like the GDGs and events like the Developer’s Summit, that Google has a role to play in being a growth engine to build Africa’s digital talent. This, in turn, will further unlock the power of the internet as a contributor to Africa’s economic growth and development,” Volk says.