Global technology giant Google says its Johannesburg Cloud Region will add $90.6 billion (Sh1.7 trillion) to South Africa’s economy by 2030, as it deepens its cloud and artificial intelligence push on the continent.
The projection, disclosed at Google Cloud’s first Africa Cloud Summit held in Johannesburg on July 1, also points to 314,900 jobs supported by the region over the same period.
Maureen Costello, Google Cloud’s Vice President for UK, Ireland and Sub-Saharan Africa, said local firms have moved beyond testing AI and are now deploying it at scale.
“African enterprises have moved decisively past the initial phases of AI experimentation. Powered by our Johannesburg Cloud Region, which is estimated to contribute $90.6 billion (ZAR 1.7 trillion) in additional gross economic output and support 314,900 jobs by 2030, leading organisations like Vodacom, Discovery, Pepkor, Naspers are establishing the essential framework to build and deploy autonomous agents that solve uniquely African challenges in real-world environments,” she said.
Vodacom, Discovery, Pepkor and Naspers were named as enterprises already running workloads on the platform. The four span telecoms, insurance, retail and media, and rank among South Africa’s largest listed corporates.
The projection was part of a broader set of announcements at the summit. Google unveiled a new connectivity hub in the Eastern Cape, the first of four planned for the continent, linking Africa to Australia via the Umoja subsea cable and opening a new route to India.
The company also announced an applied AI lab in Ghana, a creative-AI education partnership with The Akuna Group, a Sh55 million ($3 million) digital innovation centre in Soweto built with WeThinkCode, and a new 15-startup cohort under its Startups Accelerator programme in South Africa.
Google said the initiatives build on a five-year, $1 billion investment pledge for Africa first announced in 2021, covering connectivity, startup funding and digital skills training. The company confirmed at the summit that it has now exceeded that original target.
It also cited a recent $37 million commitment to AI skills and research funding, and the AI Community Center it opened in Accra last year, as part of the same continental push.
Google’s Johannesburg Cloud Region went live in 2025, positioning South Africa as one of the company’s key data infrastructure hubs on the continent.
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