NCDIA, Cassava to Build Africa’s First Artificial Intelligence Factory, Operations Begin in June

Emma Okonji

Casava Technologies has partnered  NVDIA to build Africa’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) factory, giving African businesses, governments and researchers access to cutting-edge AI computing capacity, and helping them develop smarter AI products, streamline operations and stay competitive in a fast-changing world.

The factory will provide the supercomputers and software needed to train AI while keeping data within Africa’s borders. 

The factory, which will be located in South Africa, is expected to begin operations in June this year.

Cassava plans to deploy NVIDIA accelerated computing and AI software using NVIDIA Cloud Partner (NCP) reference architectures, at its data centers in South Africa by June 2025, with expansion planned at its other data center facilities in Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, and Morocco.

Cassava’s AI-enabled data centres will help Africa develop domestic AI technologies, increase productivity, protect data and support businesses, making the continent economically competitive and future-ready. Founder & Chairman of Cassava Technologies, Strive Masiyiwa, said: “Cassava’s AI Factory will leverage the company’s pan-African high-speed, ultra-low-latency, fibre-optic network with sustainable data centres to deliver AI as a Service (AIaaS). Cassava’s world-class data centres are designed to be energy efficient, using less electricity to power AI computing workloads. NVIDIA GPU-based supercomputers will power the AI factory, enabling faster AI model training, fine-tuning and advanced inference capabilities. Cassava aims to be the first to introduce these accelerated computing platforms to Africa as an NCP, playing a crucial role in the continent’s AI ecosystem. “The Cassava AI Factory will ensure businesses and researchers have access to the AI computing power required to scale, boost productivity and power innovation. By using the secure, high-performance AI Factory, African businesses and governments can develop local solutions to local challenges, enabling Africans to build, train, scale and deploy AI in a secure environment compliant with global and local regulations. “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.” According to Masiyiwa, “Collaborating with NVIDIA gives us the advanced computing capabilities needed to drive Africa’s AI innovation while strengthening the continent’s digital independence.” Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at NVIDIA, Jaap Zuiderveld, said: “AI is helping innovators solve our greatest challenges in agriculture, healthcare, energy, financial services and many other industries creating opportunity in Africa. As an NVIDIA Cloud Partner, Cassava is providing essential infrastructure and software to help pioneering companies and organisations accelerate AI development to foster innovation across the continent.”

Cassava’s AI Factory marks the next step in the group’s long-standing leadership in providing world class digital solutions, reinforcing its broader commitment to responsible AI adoption, innovation and productivity growth in Africa.