Google has announced a major initiative to support higher education across Africa by offering its premium AI subscription, Google AI Pro for free to university students for 12 months.

The offer is available to eligible students aged 18 and above  in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, providing them with access to Google’s most advanced AI tools to enhance their learning, research, and creative work.

Through Google’s most capable model, Gemini 2.5 Pro, the initiative will equip the next generation of African leaders, innovators, and creators with fundamental AI literacy. By placing powerful generative AI tools directly in the hands of students, Google is helping to prepare them for a workforce where AI proficiency is increasingly essential.

Speaking about the initiative, Managing Director for Google in sub-Saharan Africa, Alex Okosi, said: “We are seeing a new wave of innovation in Africa, driven by the energy and ingenuity of our young people. By providing students with access to our most advanced AI tools, we want to empower them to not only excel in their studies but also to become critical builders and shapers of the future. This offer is about democratising access to technology and giving African students the skills to compete and lead on a global stage.”

The Google AI Pro plan provides a comprehensive suite of tools designed for the demands of academic and creative life for Supercharged Learning and Research; Time-Saving Efficiency; Enhanced Organization and Creativity; and Massive Storage. 

The Supercharged Learning and Research, summarizes academic papers, debugging code, and step-by-step guidance on complex problems. 

The Time-Saving Efficiency uses Deep Research to generate comprehensive, cited reports from hundreds of web sources in minutes, transforming how students approach long-form assignments and dissertations.

Enhanced Organization and Creativity, leverage NotebookLM to organise notes and connect ideas, and use Veo 3 to instantly transform text prompts or images into short, high-quality videos for presentations and projects.

For Massive Storage, it receives 2 TB of cloud storage across Google Drive, Gmail, and photos, ensuring ample space for coursework, research data, and creative portfolios.

To sign up, university students in eligible higher education institutions and countries can verify their status and activate the 12-month free plan by visiting gemini.google/students. The process is designed to be simple, requiring students to verify their status through various methods and to add or confirm a form of payment (without incurring any charges). The offer will be available for redemption for 60 days, from October 7, 2025, to December 9, 2025.

According to Google, the student offer builds on Google’s long-standing commitment to Africa’s digital transformation through programs like the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa and the Digital Skills for Africa initiative, which have helped millions of people and businesses grow.