Last week, Google announced its plans to set up shop in Kenya. Now Google.org is showing an interest in Kenya’s southern neighbor, Tanzania, and has made known its plans to participate in “Believe Begin Become – Tanzania’s National Business Plan Competition.”
All right, so it sounds a little hokey, but the effort has some admirable goals. Google.org has partnered with TechnoServe, and “[t]he program is designed to help Tanzanian entrepreneurs develop skills, obtain seed or expansion capital and establish the networks that help transform their business ideas into successful enterprises that create jobs and other income sources that transform the lives of all Tanzanians,” reports Alex Mkindi, TechnoServe’s Deputy Country Director in Tanzania, on the Official Google Blog.
Aside from the human-interest aspect, it’s also a pretty good PR move – thanks to Street View, and to some less-than-complimentary findings from Privacy International, Google’s not being looked at in quite the same “fun and quirky” way. Believe Begin Become should at least reinforce the image of “goodness” that Google prefers.
It should act to elevate Google’s position within Tanzania, as well. The search engine company has previously arranged to bring servers into the region, but with a new base of operations just a bit to the north, training 250 people in business management could lead to some very positive outcomes.
Indeed, David Bulengo, who works on the Believe Begin Become Organizing Committee, states, “The network of professionals and business leaders involved with Believe Begin Become will allow a new generation of young entrepreneurs the chance to learn from their experience and to create wonderful business opportunities.”
Whatever Google’s reasons for participating in this endeavor, it seems that Believe Begin Become’s outcome will be undeniably positive.
