Cassava Technologies has announced plans to build Africa’s first AI factory. It’s a data center equipped with NVIDIA’s advanced AI computing technology. The facility will provide African businesses, governments, and researchers with high-performance AI infrastructure. This will allow them to develop AI solutions while keeping data securely within the continent.
According to Cassava, the AI factory will launch in South Africa by June 2025, with expansions planned for Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria. The facility will leverage NVIDIA’s GPU-based supercomputers to accelerate AI model training and advanced inference capabilities.
Cassava’s AI factory will be powered by its pan-African high-speed, ultra-low-latency fiber-optic network, offering AI as a Service (AIaaS). The company aims to be the first NVIDIA Cloud Partner (NCP) to bring this level of AI infrastructure to Africa, strengthening the continent’s AI ecosystem.
Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Chairman of Cassava, stated the importance of digital infrastructure in driving Africa’s AI economy. “Our AI Factory provides the infrastructure for innovation to scale, empowering African businesses, startups, and researchers with access to advanced AI tools,” he stated.
Jaap Zuiderveld, VP of EMEA at NVIDIA, highlighted AI’s role in transforming industries such as healthcare, agriculture, energy, and financial services. “Cassava is providing essential AI infrastructure to help pioneering companies and organizations accelerate AI development across the continent,” Zuiderveld said.
While Cassava leads in bringing accelerated computing to Africa, other firms are also eyeing the market. In 2024, Microsoft and G42, a top AI firm from the UAE, announced a $1 billion plan to build a geothermal-powered data center in Kenya. This project aims to enhance cloud computing capacity in East Africa while supporting sustainability goals.
