Cassava Technologies (Cassava) has announced plans to build Africa’s first artificial intelligence (AI) factory - a secure data centre facility powered withNVIDIA AI computing technology. The AI factory is set to give businesses, governments and researchers access to AI computing capacity.
Cassavaplans to deploy NVIDIA-accelerated computing and AI software via NVIDIA Cloud Partner reference architectures at its data centres in South Africa, by June 2025. The company plans to expand the initiative to its other facilities in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria.
The AI factory will leverage the company’s high-speed, ultra-low-latency, fibre-optic network with sustainable data centres to deliver AI as a Service (AIaaS). Leveraging NVIDIA’s GPU-based supercomputers, the facility will enable faster AI model training and advanced inference capabilities.
Strive Masiyiwa, Founder & Chairman of Cassava, emphasised the importance of digital infrastructure in harnessing the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
“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,” he said.
Masiyiwa added that collaborating with NVIDIA would enhance Africa’s AI innovation while strengthening the continent’s digital independence.
AI Factories vs Traditional Data Centres
Unlike ‘traditional’ data centres,which primarily store and process data for general computing, AI factories are designed to manufacture intelligence at scale. They transform raw data into real-time insights and are optimised for the entire AI lifecycle - from data ingestion to training, fine-tuning and high-volume inference.
Jaap Zuiderveld, Vice President for EMEA at NVIDIA, highlighted AI’s potential in solving critical challenges across various sectors.
“AI is helping innovators solve our greatest challenges in agriculture, healthcare, and many other industries creating opportunities 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.”
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