Johannesburg, 03 Aug 2026
The first Google Cloud Summit to be held in Africa generated massive excitement in the local market – an indication that the Google AI groundswell is here.
This is according to Gregory MacLennan, CEO of Digicloud Africa – Google Cloud distributor for Africa and sponsor of the inaugural Google Cloud Summit in Johannesburg earlier this month.
MacLennan says the event, convened under the theme ‘Building for Africa with Google Cloud’, drew more than 2 500 business leaders, developers, public sector leaders and partners keen to explore Google’s innovations in the cloud, AI and security spaces.
“There was a huge amount of energy – a lot of it driven by Google's various plays in the AI space. Google AI is fast becoming an industry leader. For partners and enterprises, there are clear signs that AI is now being operationalised across business use cases and delivering measurable value,” he says.
Speaking at the Google Cloud Summit, President Cyril Ramaphosa described the event as a major milestone for Africa and South Africa. He said: “Cloud computing and artificial intelligence will power the new economies of the 21st century. Africa intends to not merely participate in that future – we intend to help shape it. This event affirms Africa’s position as a core growth region for the global cloud ecosystem. A substantial part of the projected global cloud value sits in Africa, where the demand for cloud and scalable AI is growing by leaps and bounds.”
Noting that the AI opportunity for Africa is a significant one, Google announced five new initiatives: a new Digital Exchange Port in the Eastern Cape; Africa's first applied AI lab in Ghana; plans to build capacity through creative AI education in Africa; a commitment to build a R3 million digital innovation centre at the South West Gauteng TVET College in Soweto; and the opening of applications for the 2026 South African cohort of its Google for Startups Accelerator.
At the Google Cloud Africa Summit, Google showcased innovations seen at the recent Google Cloud Next 2026 event in Las Vegas, including the progress and roadmap for Google’s Gemini Enterprise agentic AI. Leading local enterprises outlined how they are innovating using Google AI tools.
“Attendees had a chance not just to interact with various Googlers, but also to see the Google ecosystem that underpins this wave of innovation, with the various businesses, resellers and partners exploring what the potential could be and what the future looks like,” MacLennan says.
MacLennan says: “The Summit underlined the fact that the AI wave is growing and AI is being generally adopted. Now is the time for businesses and partners to embrace it. Most of our partners aren't waiting. We see particularly strong interest in the local market in the real-world business applications applying Google AI. In fact, the number of Digicloud resellers signing up with us has more than doubled since last year, and much of this growth is driven by customers who want to deploy Google AI. The market feedback we're getting is that Gemini adds real value. And every month it's getting easier and easier to adopt and use.”
MacLennan notes: “Google is also a market leader in security products when it comes to security operations, information around security threats and getting security insights from networks. The combination of various security products that Google has on offer is also driving keen market interest. Importantly, organisations don't need to use another Google product in their business to implement Google's security products on top of whatever their platform is.”
“For partners, Google’s progress in the AI and security spaces offer massive opportunities. For businesses that haven’t yet become partners, now is the time to join the story,” MacLennan concludes.
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