Google offers free AI Plus to African students

Google is offering eligible university and college students in 27 African countries 12 months of AI Plus at no cost. The subscription plan provides expanded access to Google’s Gemini AI tools for research, coursework and revision, together with additional cloud storage.

The offer, available in South Africa, includes Gemini Omni, twice the Gemini usage limits available to non-AI subscribers and 400GB of storage across Google Drive, Gmail and Google Photos.

Students who claimed last year’s Gemini student offer can renew their access for another 12 months, subject to re-verification.

Google says the AI Plus student experience includes the following:

• Student hub: A dedicated space in Gemini where students can access learning tools, organise their studies, create practice quizzes and explore different ways to learn.
• Study notebooks: Students can upload course materials such as lecture notes, syllabuses and reading materials. Gemini can then help break down topics, identify knowledge gaps and create tailored lessons and quizzes to support learning.
• Interactive visualisations: Gemini can generate interactive 3D models, simulations, tables and other visual elements to help students understand complex concepts across subjects.
• Gemini Live with Deep Research: Students can have conversational discussions with Gemini about their research and launch comprehensive, multi-step research reports that continue working in the background.
• Practice and visual learning tools: Students can use Gemini and other Google AI experiences to explore concepts, practise what they have learnt and work through visual problems and diagrams.

“This Google AI Plus student offer reflects our commitment to making advanced AI tools more accessible to Africa’s next generation of learners and innovators. Higher education requires students to research deeply, solve complex problems and continuously build new skills,” says Alex Okosi, Google Africa managing director. “As AI becomes an increasingly important tool for learning and work, we want to enable more students across Africa to access the resources they need to explore ideas, build knowledge and prepare for the future.”

How to claim the Google AI Plus student offer

To claim the Google AI Plus offer, students must verify their status through SheerID and use a personal Google account rather than a school-issued Workspace for Education account.

According to the offer terms, applicants must be at least 16 years old, have a qualifying payment method and redeem the offer by 31 December 2026. The subscription automatically renews at the standard local monthly price after the 12-month period unless cancelled.

The offer covers Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

* Students can claim the free Google AI Plus offer on the website here.