For Africa, home to the world’s largest youth population (planned to double to more than 830 million by 2050), the rapidly expanding capabilities in AI constitute both a significant option and an urgent call for action.
I started a lifelong learning as a young engineering student in Zimbabwe. Through a research project on neural networks, I became aware of AIS deep potential and the need to benefit everyone.
At Google, we believe that access to AI – which requires not only connection and products, but the training to use it – is important to lock opportunities and expand the young Africans’ innovation capacity. AI is how Google delivers on our mission to make information universally accessible and useful and how we will transform knowledge and learning. With AI, we collectively have the chance to democratize access from the start and ensure that the digital gap does not become an AI gap, making it useful for everyone.
Connection unlocks for Africa’s digital potential
For decades, Google has supported African Internet connection, starting with our 2006 investment in the Seacom cable. By 2021, Google promised $ 1 billion over five years to continue this mission. We have exceeded this commitment early and invested more than $ 1 billion, which has contributed to the development of reliable, elastic and safe infrastructure that is essential for Africans to exploit AI’s power.
Today, another milestone marks our commitment to Africa’s digital future. Google announces four strategic Subsea cable connection naps in the northern, southern, eastern and western regions of Africa. This investment creates new digital corridors in Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world – ultimately the elaboration of international connection and resilience as well as spuring economic growth and opportunity.
This is the latest addition to our Africa Connect Infrastructure program. We build vital connection across the continent, including the Google Cloud region of Johannesburg, serving users all over the continent, the equilibrium cable that runs along the entire western sea board on the continent, and Umoja, the first fiber optic route to directly connect Africa with Australia (runs through Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa).
Our investments to date have enabled 100 million Africans to access the Internet for the first time, and the equal cable alone is expected to increase real GDP this year in Nigeria, South Africa and Namibia with an estimated $ 11.1 billion respectively, $ 5.8 billion and $ 290 million. We have also made Gemini available on Google Distributed Cloud so that more entrepreneurs, companies, governments and developers can use our advanced AI models everywhere with improved security, reliability and resilience.
Google’s AI can accelerate youth leading learning and innovation
Enabling Africa’s young people to learn, innovate and lead is critical of Africa’s development and economic growth. That’s why we get advanced AI in the hands of college students (18 years of age or older) in countries all over the continent-starting with Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe-Ved to offer them a free one year’s subscription to our Google AI Pro Plan available in the coming weeks.
With deep research, students can save time with custom research reports and provide in -depth information from hundreds of websites online. With extended access to Gemini 2.5 Pro, students can get help with homework or writing and access the full package of Pro Tools, including guided learning in Gemini, a new state that acts as a learning mate.
By giving students advanced AI tools for research, problem solving, coding and content creation, we provide them directly to tackle challenges and pursue opportunities that are specific to the continent, thereby contributing to economic growth and societal progress.
Helps build skills and solutions
Exhausting people with AI skills is critical. So far, we have trained 7 million Africans and planned to educate another 3 million students, young people and teachers by 2030. Google is also strengthening local capacity by giving African universities and research institutions over $ 17 million in financing, curriculum, education, calculating and accessing advanced AI models in the last four years, with a further $ 9 million planned for the coming year.
Young people have been exposed to barriers that gain access to knowledge and information, as well as tools and products in African languages, which limits their ability to benefit from them. Last year we added 110 new languages ​​to Google Translate, including more than 30 African languages. Based on that, we expand open data sets, evaluations and voice models to more than 40 African languages ​​with plans to reach more than 50 languages ​​and publish 24 open spoken data sets next year.
We have seen the power of enabling research and innovation in Africa with the groundbreaking work of our AI research team in Kenya and Ghana. Together with local partners, these Google teams are leading advanced research to the benefit of Africa and the world, such as advanced flooding, open building data, strengthening the crops’ resilience and supporting farmers. We aim to reach 500 million Africans with our AI-driven innovations that help tackle societal challenges by 2030.
The future of African innovation
AI creates an unprecedented opportunity to benefit everyone, and Google is obliged to make it a reality for people, businesses and communities throughout Africa. Today’s messages are another example of how Google continues to expand the connection, increase product access and skills throughout the continent and enable the African-led innovation and we do not stop here.