Google Director Juliet Ehimuan discusses tech growth in Nigeria with CNN Innovate Africa

In a conversation with CNN’s Innovate Africa recently, Juliet Ehimuan, Google Director, West Africa, spoke about the tremendous progress technology has made in Africa, and the role Google has played in that transformation.

In just a few short years, technology has swept over Africa, taking the continent in general and Nigeria in particular from the doldrums of manual processes to the bright lights of innovation and automation.

Google has been in Nigeria, driving technology for growth, since 2007 and Juliet Ehimuan joined the organisation as country manager in 2011, driving their vision and business goals across the country and, more recently, across West Africa.

While talking with CNN, she expressed a passion for Africa and the role technology can play in accelerating growth on the continent. A firm believer in modifying global technologies to solve local problems, she has seen people leverage emerging technologies to develop new opportunities for themselves. The training, upskilling and programmes that have been initiated during her time at Google have brought about real transformation, with industries such as farming, healthcare and FinTech benefiting from technology and everyday people becoming their own success stories, overcoming great odds and “10x-ing their income, just by acquiring digital skills”.

It is refreshing to find an adept, empathetic manager at the helm of affairs; one who matches an understanding of Nigeria’s many positives with a keen knowledge of technological advances to bring about the kind of results that Africa needs: a leading role in today’s competitive world.