Cassava Technologies may invest up to $720 million to build Africa’s first artificial intelligence factory — powered by Nvidia — as the continent races to catch up in the global AI race.
Why it matters
Africa has largely been left behind in the AI revolution. Cassava’s investment aims to change that by building a continent-wide AI infrastructure that can support research, startups, and governments.
“This is about ensuring that Africa doesn’t get left behind,” said Hardy Pemhiwa, president and CEO of Cassava.
The details
- The AI factory will be built using Nvidia’s GPUs and software.
- Cassava plans to deploy 12,000 GPUs across South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and Morocco over the next 3–4 years.
- 3,000 GPUs will be installed in South Africa by June — the first step in the rollout.
- A single Nvidia GPU costs between $45,000 and $60,000.
Between the lines
Pemhiwa said investing now, even with limited capital, is necessary to encourage others to follow.
“The GPUs themselves are like laying fiber — the investment is really about building the whole AI ecosystem.”
Big picture:
With Nvidia controlling 93% of the GPU market, the US chip giant was a natural choice. Cassava can also resell excess capacity to other Nvidia cloud clients globally.
- The AI factory will target universities, startups, developers, and governments, with sectors like health and fintech being key beneficiaries.
Source: Bloomberg
