Strive Masiyiwa, the founder and executive chairman of Cassava Technologies, has committed to accelerating the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across Africa.
In a recent announcement, Masiyiwa stated that his team is set to establish a network of AI factories throughout the continent. “We aim to have the first five regional AI factories operational within the next 12 months,” he revealed.
These factories will be strategically located in key regional hubs, including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and Morocco.
Additionally, Masiyiwa introduced the expansion of Cassava’s cloud-based AI services, which are designed to tackle data sovereignty challenges. “We are launching the ‘Sovereign AI Cloud,’ which enables every African nation to host its own AI factory,” he explained.
According to industry reports, only five per cent of Africa’s AI talent currently has access to the necessary computational resources for advanced research. By enhancing the availability of AI infrastructure locally, Masiyiwa emphasised that Cassava seeks to close this gap and elevate Africa in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Cassava Technologies has partnered with Nvidia to broaden access to computing power across the continent in pursuit of this objective. The first facility, set to be established in South Africa, will feature 3,000 Nvidia GPUs. Many African AI practitioners have already begun reserving access to the initial capacity. Ultimately, Cassava anticipates investing up to $720 million in this continent-wide AI infrastructure.
Masiyiwa highlighted that this initiative is part of a larger vision to shape Africa’s digital landscape and ensure that the continent remains competitive in developing AI-driven economies. “Our AI factory will provide essential innovation infrastructure, empowering African businesses, start-ups, and researchers with access to advanced AI resources. They will no longer need to look beyond Africa,” he stated.
“I spearheaded Africa’s mobile revolution and enhanced high-capacity broadband. Now, we are advancing the continent’s AI revolution,” he noted.
To facilitate this endeavour, Cassava’s diverse portfolio of companies, which includes Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Liquid Cloud C2, Africa Data Centres, and the newly established Cassava AI, is strategically positioned to seize these opportunities. Furthermore, Cassava AI has partnered with AWS, Microsoft, Google, and Anthropic to deliver solutions leveraging their AI capabilities.
Masiyiwa also announced a new partnership, dubbed the ‘Distributed AI Cloud,’ concerning the ‘Gemini on Google Distributed Cloud’ agreement revealed two weeks earlier by Google Cloud president Thomas Kurian. This hybrid cloud approach allows AI access both in and on-premises via Google Cloud’s infrastructure.
