Cassava Technologies Partners with Nvidia to Deploy Africa’s First and Largest AI Cloud
Following a meeting with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the chipmaker’s HQ in Silicon Valley in mid-March 2025, Cassava Technologies Chairman Strive Masiyiwa announced that both companies are partnering together to deploy the first and largest #AI cloud in Africa. The first Cassava hyperscale AI Factory using Nvidia GPU and software will be in South Africa and is expected to go online by June 2025.
At Cassava, the push towards AI is known as Project Mufungi and it aims to deliver Intelligence as a Service (#IaaS). In addition to South Africa, AI Factories are also planned in Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Morocco. These data centers will eventually be linked by the transcontinental high-speed optical backbone network of Liquid Telecom, another venture of Strive Masiyiwa.
“The rollout of AI infrastructure is critical if Africa is to take full advantage of the 4th industrial revolution (#IR4). Now African innovators don’t have to look beyond the continent to access it. African AI models must be built upon African datasets.”
Cassava Technologies Chairman Strive Masiyiwa
The move by Cassava Technologies comes after Microsoft and G42 announced similar plans to build a USD one billion AI data center in Kenya which will be powered by green geothermal energy. Not to be outdone, Google is also investing roughly the same amount to set up an AI data center in Johannesburg, South Africa. In addition, Google has research teams working on AI at #GoogleLabs in Kenya and Ghana.
The objective of Cassava Technologies is to ensure Africa is not left behind in the global AI push. Chairman Masiyiwa believes Africa’s AI models and future must be rooted in African experiences, African history and African culture.
With regards to commercial apps, Cassava is already working on an AI model for #SmartHealth to enhance medical diagnosis and treatment. Similarly, another project focuses on the application of AI to boost the production of crops and contribute to #FoodSecurity.
Students and professors around the world are already using AI tools to augment the learning experience. The list of sectors which can benefit from AI is endless and it is expected that the AI revolution will unleash a host of new possibilities.