Google held graduation celebrations on Tuesday in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.

Google also announced a new speaker series at the events in which successful African entrepreneurs share lessons and advice, demonstrating the company’s commitment to assisting entrepreneurs and small businesses in thriving.

The Hustle Academy, which launched in February of this year, provides practical business training that helps business owners learn the soft skills that complement their hard talents through peer-to-peer and mentor-driven learning.

The graduates for this year were chosen from nearly 10,000 applications.

They are from one of 23 cohorts that participated in five-day virtual bootcamps to learn how to define their business strategy, increase sales, and pitch for investor funding. Lessons on digital marketing and effective financial planning were also included in the curriculum.

Each company also received one-on-one mentoring sessions to address specific business pain points and receive advice from a network of trained mentors and coaches.

According to Alistair Mokoena, Country Director Google South Africa, the graduates are proud of their accomplishment.

“Our graduates are working hard to grow their businesses, and in addition to having an impact in these 5000 SMBs, this kind of practical training also has a ripple effect, helping many more people succeed.”

“Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are the backbone of the global economy, and in Africa, they account for an estimated 80% of jobs. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, there are an estimated 44 million micro, small and medium enterprises, which function as important drivers of economic growth,” said Mokoena.

According to Google, the speaker series will provide SMBs with insight from business owners from a variety of industries, with a focus on the issues, themes, and subjects they face on a daily basis.

Main Image:Google’s Hustle Academy training programme has graduated at least 5 000 business owners, Image by: Internet/Google