Cassava Technologies, a leading pan-African technology firm founded by Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, is set to spearhead a groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) project that could redefine Africa’s digital landscape.
The company is considering investing up to $720 million in Africa’s first AI factory, which will be developed in collaboration with US-based tech giant Nvidia Corp, Bloomberg reports.
This strategic partnership is aimed at transforming Africa into a competitive player in the global AI space by deploying Nvidia’s accelerated computing infrastructure and software solutions across several key African countries. Initial markets include South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and Morocco.
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The AI journey will begin in South Africa, where Cassava Technologies plans to deploy 3,000 high-performance graphic processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia by June 2025. This initial rollout marks the start of a larger goal to install a total of 12,000 GPUs across Africa within the next three to four years.
“The GPUs themselves are like laying fibre,” said Hardy Pemhiwa, President and Group CEO of Cassava. “The investment is really about building the whole AI ecosystem.” Pemhiwa emphasized that despite limited capital, Africa must take proactive steps in AI development or risk being left behind.
Each GPU, essential for AI computing power, costs between $45,000 and $60,000. With Nvidia controlling about 93% of the global GPU market, Cassava saw the company as an ideal partner. Pemhiwa described Nvidia as “market leaders” in the field.
Beyond building infrastructure, Cassava’s AI factory aims to serve a wide array of users from research institutions and universities to private corporations and startups. The goal is to lay the digital groundwork that will fuel Africa’s participation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Strive Masiyiwa highlighted that if Africa is to take full advantage of digital transformation, foundational technologies like AI must be localized. “This is about ensuring Africa doesn’t get left behind,” said Pemhiwa, underscoring the importance of local investment.
Additionally, Cassava will benefit from being able to sell unused computing capacity to Nvidia’s global cloud network customers. This not only offsets operational costs but also positions Africa as a potential player in the international cloud computing space.
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