After launching YouTube in Kiswahili and Amharic last November, Google has now released two more African language versions of YouTube, namely Afrikaans and isiZulu.

The search giant stated that these new language versions of YouTube help create awareness among new users, who are not fluent in English and have not been able to fully enjoy or understand YouTube.

Additionally, it's a reminder of the local content in both languages that is increasingly making its way onto YouTube in South Africa, such as that on the channels on MduComics, JusGorilla, Die Heuwels Fantasties and Jack Parow.

“For many Africans online, the internet is something created by other people which we simply consume. We see this with many African languages that have a dominant presence offline (on radio, TV, newspapers), yet are underrepresented on the web today,” a post by Ian Parsons and Mthokozisi Dlalisa, Afrikaans and IsiZulu specialists at Google South Africa explained.

“Seeing your language appear on global services like Google Search, YouTube, or Gmail can help change that. Suddenly, you become part of the conversation.”

 

In related news Google, together with its partners and angel investors, also recently announced the first four teams of entrepreneurs who have been selected for the Umbono programme.