Higher education requires students to research deeply, solve complex problems and continuously build new skills.
Google has announced that higher education students in 27 African countries, including South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. Picture: iStock.
Google has announced that higher education students in 27 African countries, including South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, will be able to access its Artificial Intelligence (AI)‑powered learning platform, Google AI Plus, free for 12 months.
The package includes Gemini Omni, higher usage limits, 400 GB of cloud storage and study tools such as custom research notebooks, interactive visualisations, and practice quizzes.
Gemini
The initiative builds on last year’s Gemini Student offer, allowing renewals for those who previously signed up. It comes as universities across the continent navigate different academic calendars to ensure support for both new and continuing students.
While other platforms such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Grammarly already provide free or discounted tools for students, Google’s AI Plus offer stands out for combining advanced study features with large cloud storage in one ecosystem.
Google Africa’s Managing Director, Alex Okosi, said the rollout aims to broaden access to technology that supports learning.
“Higher education requires students to research deeply, solve complex problems and continuously build new skills. 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.”
Dedicated hub
The student experience includes a dedicated hub in Gemini, study notebooks that break down lecture materials into tailored lessons, and interactive 3D models to aid understanding of complex concepts.
The offer is available immediately to eligible students in Angola, Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Students can verify their eligibility through SheerID and claim the offer at gemini.google.com/students.
News publishers
Meanwhile, eight independent South African news creators have been selected to join the Sub‑Saharan Africa cohort of the Google News Initiative’s Emerging News Voices Growth Lab.
The three‑month virtual programme brings together 18 organisations from across the region, offering training and mentorship to strengthen digital‑native newsrooms.
Google said the initiative responds to the growing role of creator‑led journalism and social‑first platforms in how audiences, particularly younger ones, consume news.
Marianne Erasmus, News Partnerships Lead for the Middle East and Africa, noted that many of these outlets operate with limited resources compared to established publishers.
