INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGY: AI DATA CENTRES
NVIDIA and Cassava Technologies launch US $ 700m AI data centre rollout across Africa
NVIDIA has partnered with Cassava Technologies in a landmark US $ 700m deal to build AI-ready data centres across Africa, marking NVIDIA’ s first direct infrastructure investment on the continent.
The initiative, launched in June, began with the delivery of 3,000 NVIDIA GPUs to a Cassava-built facility in South Africa. Over the next three to four years, a further 12,000 GPUs will be deployed across Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and Morocco to support the adoption of AI in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture and fintech.
“ NVIDIA dominates the global GPU market with a 93 % share,” said Eric Omorogieva, Analyst at the New Lines Institute.“ Bringing its hardware to Africa could be a game changer for local innovation.”
To complement the infrastructure rollout, Cassava has signed a MoU with the South African AI Association, giving more than 3,000 AI professionals direct access to GPU clusters and supporting talent development alongside technical capacity.
Geopolitical shift in tech strategy
AFRICA HAS HISTORICALLY CONTENDED WITH RECEIVING SECOND-RATE TECHNOLOGY.
Unlike state-led Chinese investments, NVIDIA’ s approach relies on private sector execution, with Cassava leading the design and delivery of localised infrastructure.
“ Africa has historically contended with receiving second-rate technology,” said Ziaad Suleman, CEO of Cassava Technologies SA and Botswana.“ This partnership will help flip the script and bring highperformance computing to local developers and datadriven industries.”
Bridging Africa’ s AI compute gap
The investment reflects a broader US shift towards commercial diplomacy, positioning private investment as a counterbalance to China’ s Belt and Road and Digital Silk Road initiatives. While Chinese firms offer cost-effective AI models, US companies continue to lead in hardware performance, particularly GPUs that power advanced AI systems.
“ Access to advanced chips and infrastructure will help African nations move from AI consumers to AI creators” said Omorogieva.“ This deal may unlock the continent’ s potential to build world-class, indigenous AI solutions.”
The partnership targets Africa’ s critical computing shortfall. According to the UNDP, only 5 % of African AI practitioners currently have access to the compute power required for advanced development and just one fifth of those have on-premises GPU access.
The NVIDIA and Cassava collaboration signals a new phase in Africa’ s digital evolution, focused on performance, local empowerment and the infrastructure needed to drive the Fourth Industrial Revolution from within. p
30 INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA www. intelligentcio. com