The Alphabet company announced the milestone on Wednesday at the inaugural Africa Cloud Summit in Johannesburg, where it unveiled new projects aimed at increasing internet capacity, digital skills, AI development and startup growth.
The latest initiative builds on Google’s launch of a Johannesburg cloud region in 2025, a major step in its efforts to bring services closer to home for businesses, governments, and developers in Africa.
Google has announced that it will establish a connectivity hub in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, the first of four hubs planned across Africa.
The facility will connect the continent to Australia through the Umoja submarine cable, connect to India through a new route, and improve internet resiliency and capacity.
The company also announced the establishment of Africa’s first applied AI lab in Ghana. The lab will connect local startups with Google researchers and provide early access to AI models.
Partnership with Idris Elba targets African creators
In the creative space, Google will partner with Idris Elba’s Acuna Group on programs worth more than $1 million.
The initiative will train underrepresented African creators in AI-powered storytelling and provide them with access to Google’s Gemini AI assistant and other digital tools.
James Manica, Google’s senior vice president of research and technology, said the program could help creators reduce production costs and increase output.
“We’re thinking about all the creators who don’t have access to huge studio budgets,” Manica said. “AI can be a tool that enables work that could not be done otherwise due to lack of huge budgets.”
The program is expected to support around 100,000 creators in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Sierra Leone.
Mr Elba said Africa’s creative industries needed improved access to tools, funding and infrastructure.
“The barrier is not a lack of vision, it is a lack of access,” Elba said in a video call at the Johannesburg summit. “Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not.”
Africa’s creator economy draws huge interest in technology
British actors are increasingly positioning themselves as investors in Africa’s creative economy.
He has previously discussed plans to build a creative village in Ghana and a studio complex in Zanzibar as part of an effort to support culturally accurate African content for global platforms.
His Akuna Wallet will also support cross-border payments for creators, connecting the program to the broader challenge of monetization in Africa’s digital economy.
Google, which owns YouTube, is betting on Africa’s young population, increasing internet usage and growing creator economy.
The continent’s media and entertainment market is currently valued at approximately $93 billion and is projected to reach $118 billion by 2031, according to Mordor Intelligence.
Google supports skills and startups
Beyond the creative economy, Google announced that its Economic and Community Development Program and WeThinkCode will build a R3 million (approximately $183,468) digital innovation center in Soweto, Johannesburg.
The company also announced that its startup accelerator program will support 15 South African companies from 21 July.
The move is part of Google’s plan to support 50 African startups from 2024 to 2028.
“The opportunities in AI are important for Africa, and Google is committed to working with Africans to help Africa realize it,” Manyika told reporters.
