NATIONAL NEWS - President Cyril Ramaphosa will officiate at the inaugural Google Cloud Summit in Africa at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg today, Wednesday 1 July.
According to the Presidency, the event will bring together global technology innovators, African policymakers and industry leaders to demonstrate the growing role of cloud computing and artificial intelligence in driving economic development.
“The Google Cloud Summit brings together global technology innovators, African policymakers, and industry captains. The event is designed to showcase the transformative potential of Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence,” the Presidency said ahead of the gathering.
Summit theme focuses on building Africa’s digital future
The summit will take place under the theme: “Google Cloud is building for Africa.”
The gathering is also expected to include new investment announcements in South Africa, with a focus on expanding technology infrastructure and digital capabilities.
The announcements are expected to align with broader efforts to strengthen South Africa’s position as a technology and investment hub on the continent.
Google investments linked to South Africa’s economic growth strategy
Earlier this year, President Ramaphosa convened the sixth South Africa Investment Conference under the framework of the three Ds:
- Decarbonisation
- Digitisation
- Diversification
The Ease of Doing Business agenda was also identified as a key cross-cutting priority.
The President also launched the second phase of South Africa’s investment mobilisation drive, targeting R2 trillion in new investments between 2026 and 2030.
AI skills and digital infrastructure in focus
The Presidency said Google’s planned investment announcements are intended to directly support South Africa’s broader economic and digital objectives.
“Google’s investment announcements are designed to directly support South Africa’s investment drive, advance The Presidency’s Digital Public Infrastructure agenda, and reinforce collaborative public-private efforts around AI skilling and national policy development across Sub-Saharan Africa,” the Presidency said.
The summit is expected to place a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence skills development, digital public infrastructure and regional technology policy collaboration.
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