Google is rolling out support for 13 African languages across its AI-powered search features, expanding access to tools including AI Overviews and AI Mode for millions of users across the continent.
For South Africa, the newly supported languages are Afrikaans, Sesotho, Setswana and isiZulu, allowing users to search and interact with AI in their preferred language rather than relying solely on English. The full list of newly supported languages also includes Akan, Amharic, Hausa, Kinyarwanda, Afaan Oromoo, Somali, Kiswahili, Wolof and Yorùbá. The languages were selected based on strong search activity across Sub-Saharan Africa, targeting communities in South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Botswana, Senegal and Somalia.
AI Overviews provides users with a concise, AI-generated summary at the top of search results alongside links to relevant sources. AI Mode allows users to explore topics further by asking follow-up questions using text, voice or images.
Kabelo Makwane, country director for Google South Africa, said the expansion addresses a fundamental equity gap in AI access. “When technology only speaks a dominant international language like English, it marginalises millions of people whose first languages reflect a different culture, identity and way of understanding information,” he said. “No one should be excluded from the AI economy because their first language isn’t English.”
The expansion draws on insights from Google’s Waxal language project, which combines machine learning, linguistic research and community collaboration to improve how AI systems understand and generate African languages. The name Waxal means “to speak” in Wolof, reflecting the project’s aim to make digital communication more inclusive and locally relevant.
In a parallel effort to address linguistic representation on the continent, Lelapa AI collaborated with Way With Words and the University of Pretoria’s Data Science for Social Impact research group to develop the Esethu Framework, a model dedicated to AI ethics and inclusion. The framework aims to ensure African language speakers are not only contributors to AI research but also beneficiaries of its growth. It functions as a sustainable data curation model that gives African communities greater control over their linguistic data while ensuring ongoing reinvestment in new African language datasets.
Neda Smith, chartered chief information officer of Agile Advisory Services, has previously said the lack of African language inclusion in AI systems has a significant negative impact, effectively shutting millions of Africans out of the digital world.
Users can access Google’s new language features through the Google mobile app or a mobile browser by selecting AI Mode and typing or speaking a query in one of the supported languages.
