Google opens four subsea cable hubs across Africa

Google has announced four strategic subsea cable connectivity hubs in the north, south, east and west regions of Africa. This investment creates new digital corridors within Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world, which Google says will deepen international connectivity and resilience, as well as spurring economic growth and opportunity.

This is the latest addition to Google’s Africa Connect infrastructure program, which sees the company build vital connectivity across the continent. It includes the Google Cloud region in Johannesburg serving users across the continent, the Equiano cable running along the entire western seaboard of the continent, and Umoja, the first fibre optic route to directly connect Africa with Australia (running through Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa).

Google’s investments to date have enabled 100-million Africans to access the internet for the first time, and the Equiano cable alone is expected to increase real GDP this year in Nigeria, South Africa and Namibia by an estimated $11.1-billion, $5.8-billion and $290-million, respectively.

Youth-led learning and innovation

Enabling Africa’s young people to learn, innovate and lead is critical to Africa’s development and economic growth, says Google. In response, it has announced free one-year subscriptions to Google AI Pro plan for college students (18 or older) across the continent – starting with Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda and Zimbabwe. The subscription provides advanced AI to students, from Deep Research, which helps save time with custom research reports and in-depth information from hundreds of sources across the web, to Gemini 2.5 Pro, which provides help with assignments or writing.

To date, Google has trained 7 -Africans and plans to train an additional 3-million students, young people, and teachers by 2030. Google is also bolstering local capacity by providing African universities and research institutions with over $17-million in funding, curriculum, training and compute and access to advanced AI models over the past four years – with an additional $9 million planned for the coming year

“Africa’s digital economy holds immense potential, and it will be driven by the talent and ingenuity of its next generation,” says Alex Okosi, managing director for Google in Africa. “(The) announcements, spanning AI education, advanced tools for students, and expanded connectivity, are a unified investment into the upward trajectory of the continent. We are committed to providing the foundational infrastructure, the cutting-edge tools, and the financial support necessary for Africa’s youth to innovate, lead, and build a thriving digital world.”

These announcements are the latest chapter in Google’s long-term investment in the continent, which has delivered $1-billion of investment.