The firm says data centres will allow Africa to develop its own AI technologies, boost productivity, protect data within its own boundaries and support businesses
Cassava Technologies is to build Africa’s first “AI factory” — a secure data centre powered by NVIDIA’s technology. The plan is to give African businesses, governments and researchers access to “cutting-edge” AI computing capacity to help them develop AI products, streamline operations and stay competitive.
The intention is to provide the supercomputers and software needed to train AI while keeping data within Africa’s borders.
Cassava plans to deploy NVIDIA’s Cloud Partner (NCP) reference architectures at its data centres in South Africa by June 2025, and progressively roll out the tech to its other data centres in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria.
Cassava’s AI Factory will leverage the company’s pan-African fibre network using its sustainable data centres to deliver AI as a Service (AIaaS), the firm says.
The NVIDIA GPU-based supercomputers should enable faster AI model training, fine-tuning and “advanced” inference capabilities. Cassava aims to be the first to introduce the computing platforms to Africa as an NCP, playing a crucial role in the continent’s AI ecosystem.
AI economy
“Building digital infrastructure for the AI economy is a priority if Africa is to take full advantage of the fourth industrial revolution. Our AI Factory provides the infrastructure for this innovation to scale, empowering African businesses, startups and researchers with access to cutting-edge AI infrastructure to turn their bold ideas into real-world breakthroughs — and now, they don’t have to look beyond Africa to get it,” said Strive Masiyiwa, Founder & Chairman of Cassava.
“Collaborating with NVIDIA gives us the advanced computing capabilities needed to drive Africa’s AI innovation while strengthening the continent’s digital independence.”
“AI is helping innovators solve our greatest challenges in agriculture, healthcare, energy, financial services and many other industries creating opportunity in Africa,” said Jaap Zuiderveld, VP EMEA at NVIDIA. “As an NVIDIA Cloud Partner, Cassava is providing essential infrastructure and software to help pioneering companies and organizations accelerate AI development to foster innovation across the continent.”
