Google Projects $90.6bn Economic Boost, Unveils Five AI Initiatives for Africa
Google Cloud on Wednesday says its Johannesburg Cloud Region could generate an additional $90.6bn in economic output and support nearly 315,000 jobs by 2030.
Maureen Costello, Vice President for UK, Ireland, and Sub-Saharan Africa at Google Cloud, made this known in a statement.
According to her, the projection came as the company unveiled five Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiatives aimed at accelerating Africa’s digital transformation through infrastructure, innovation, startup funding and digital skills development.
She said the announcements were made at Google’s inaugural Africa Cloud Summit in Johannesburg, which was attended by about 3,000 business leaders, developers, public sector officials and technology partners.
Costello added that the initiatives build on its existing one billion-dollar investment commitment to Africa and recent investments in AI research, skills development and innovation.
She announced plans to establish a Digital Exchange Port in South Africa’s Eastern Cape to strengthen internet resilience and international connectivity.
“The facility, the first of four planned African connectivity hubs, will connect the continent directly to Australia through the Umoja subsea cable and a new subsea route to India,’’ she said.
Costello also disclosed that Google launched Africa’s first Applied AI Lab in Accra, Ghana, pairing African startup founders with Google researchers and early access to the company’s latest AI models.
She said the lab would support founders developing AI solutions for uniquely African challenges across business, education, creativity, software development and other sectors.
Costello noted that African enterprises had moved beyond AI experimentation to the deployment of practical business solutions.
The Google boss also announced that applications for the 2026 South African Google for Startups Accelerator would open on July 21
She said the accelerator would admit 15 startups for AI-focused training, mentorship and equity-free funding under Google’s commitment to support 50 African ventures by 2028.
According to her, to deepen digital skills, Google will partner with WeThinkCode to establish a three-million-rand digital innovation centre at South West Gauteng TVET College in Soweto.
The company also committed more than one million dollars through Google.org to support The Akuna Group’s AI education programme for underrepresented African creators.
The statement also quoted the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, as saying that Africa was becoming a strategic growth region for the global cloud ecosystem through investments in AI and digital infrastructure.
Google Senior Vice President for Research, Labs, Technology and Society, James Manyika, said the investments reflected the company’s commitment to advancing African-led AI innovation.
Manyika said the new initiatives would expand infrastructure, strengthen partnerships, and equip African innovators to harness AI for locally relevant solutions. #Google Projects $90.6bn Economic Boost, Unveils Five AI Initiatives for Africa#
