Google has announced a series of new African infrastructure, AI and skills projects at its first Africa Cloud Summit in Johannesburg — including the continent’s first applied AI lab in Ghana and a new connectivity hub in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.

The commitments build on Google’s 2025 launch of its Johannesburg cloud region, a major step in its effort to serve African businesses, governments and developers closer to home. The company said it will establish a connectivity hub in the Eastern Cape — the first of four planned hubs across Africa — which will connect the continent to Australia through the Umoja subsea cable and to India through a new route, improving internet resilience and capacity.

Google also announced Africa’s first applied AI lab in Ghana, which will connect local startups with Google researchers and give them early access to the company’s AI models. The lab forms part of a broader push to strengthen African-led AI development and research capacity.

Beyond infrastructure, Google said its Economic and Community Development programme and WeThinkCode would build a R3 million — about $183,468 — digital innovation centre in Soweto, Johannesburg. The company also said its startup accelerator programme will back 15 South African firms from July 21, part of Google’s plan to support 50 African ventures between 2024 and 2028. “The AI opportunity for Africa is significant, and Google is committed to doing our part working with Africans to help Africa realise it,” Google Senior Vice President for Research and Technology James Manyika told reporters.

The summit also saw Google partner with actor Idris Elba’s Akuna Group on a programme worth more than $1 million to train underrepresented African creators in AI-powered storytelling and provide access to Google’s Gemini AI assistant — expected to support about 100,000 creators across Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Sierra Leone.

Google, which owns YouTube, is betting on Africa’s young population, rising internet use and growing creator economy. The continent’s media and entertainment market is currently valued at about $93 billion and is projected to reach $118 billion by 2031, according to Mordor Intelligence.