To enhance Malawi’s technological capabilities and reduce reliance on foreign-hosted services, Converged Technology Networks (CTN) has unveiled plans to establish the country’s first Micro Data Centre (MDC) to support artificial intelligence (AI) computing.
Brian Longwe, co-founder and CEO of CTN, stated that this initiative is designed to foster local expertise as AI increasingly becomes integral to public services, education, and various industries in Malawi.
For years, Malawi has relied on external data infrastructures, which have hindered local innovation and increased costs for organisations that require substantial processing power.
Longwe expressed, “If Malawi does not build its own capacity, we risk being mere consumers of technology produced elsewhere.”
Unlike conventional data centres focused primarily on hosting websites, email systems, and business applications, CTN’s MDC will prioritise high-performance computing for AI workloads.
The company plans to install advanced graphics processing units (GPUs), specifically the NVIDIA A100 processors, in the coming months. These GPUs are globally recognised for their effectiveness in powering AI applications, especially in processing vast amounts of data and executing machine learning models.
CTN asserts that hosting these computing resources locally will enhance processing speeds by keeping data traffic within Malawi, while potentially reducing operational costs for businesses and institutions utilising AI technologies.
The significance of data sovereignty was also highlighted, emphasising that sensitive financial, health, and government information can be processed and stored securely within Malawi.
The facility will operate on a GPU-as-a-Service model, enabling organisations, developers, and startups to rent computing power rather than commit to expensive hardware investments.
Additionally, this initiative is poised to aid education and skills development through a collaboration with Africa GPU Hub, which provides shared GPU infrastructure across various African nations, including South Africa and Nigeria.
As part of this partnership, CTN intends to offer complimentary GPU credits to Malawian AI scientists, students, data engineers, and IT professionals, fostering practical training and research opportunities.
Once the GPU infrastructure in Malawi is operational, CTN plans to contribute its computing resources to the regional pool, potentially benefiting neighbouring countries.
