Cassava Technologies is on a mission and it’s not even subtle. If you weren’t paying attention, it’s all about boosting and then dominating an African AI ecosystem.

The company has a deal with a startup called Vambo AI to build what they’re calling Africa’s own large language models (LLMs). Yes, like GPT-style models, but trained with African languages and contexts in mind.

This partnership, for which the companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding, sees Vambo AI getting access to Cassava’s GPU-heavy AI Factory (you know, the one they’ve been hyping since April) to train and deploy a series of open-source language models.

This is so that Vambo AI can build tools that speak Africa’s languages, not just literally, but culturally and economically too.

“We’re not just building tools, we’re building the future,” says Vambo AI’s CEO, Chido Dzinotyiwei. And yeah, that’s marketing talk, but you kinda believe it.

Cassava seems to be taking the “if we build it, they will come” approach to AI infrastructure. First, it was Zindi for AI developers, then chipmaker (NVIDIA) partnerships for GPU muscle, and now Vambo AI for the actual models. You can see the picture forming, a full-stack African AI ecosystem.

The name might not ring a bell yet. They’ve been quietly building multilingual AI tools, i.e. translation, transcription, content generation and smart search across 44 African and 20 international languages.

This new partnership could help push that work. Their upcoming “Jua Series” of open-source models will be released under a permissive license, meaning local devs and researchers can build on top of it, no NDA or any gatekeeping in sight.

Which raises the question: will this finally promote homegrown AI?

We’ve long cried about how Africa often consumes global tech rather than building it. But with Cassava seeming determined and startups like Vambo and Zindi jumping on board, things may be shifting. Slowly, but surely.

It’s worth noting that all this comes not long after the Global AI Summit on Africa back in April. Could this be an example of the rare times that summits lead to actual action in chase of a goal.

The real test isn’t in the partnerships or even the models. It’s whether African developers, companies, and governments actually use them, and build stuff that solves real, local problems.

And, of course, whether Zimbabwe, or any other African country I guess, gets to meaningfully plug into this ecosystem, or if we just end up clapping from the sidelines.

We’ll be watching.

Cassava Technologies, a global technology leader of African heritage, and Vambo AI, a frontier African AI startup, have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to drive the development and deployment of cutting-edge African artificial intelligence (AI) solutions that cater to the continent’s diverse linguistic, cultural, and economic landscapes. 

The strategic collaboration will see Vambo AI leveraging Cassava’s secure, high-performance AI Factory, equipped with NVIDIA GPU-based supercomputers, to accelerate the creation and distribution of African-trained language models and related AI systems. 

“This is more than a partnership, it’s a continental milestone,” said Chido Dzinotyiwei, Co-founder and CEO of Vambo AI. “Together with Cassava Technologies, we are setting the standard for what it means to build AI that truly reflects and serves Africa. We’re not just building tools, we’re building the future.” 

At the heart of this collaboration is a family of open-source large language models purpose-built for African languages and contexts. The series is designed to enable scalable innovation across various industries, including education, health, government, fintech, and the creative sector. It is also intended to empower developers, researchers, and enterprises to build inclusive, culturally intelligent AI applications. 

“Cassava is pleased to partner with Vambo AI, an African startup making an incredible contribution to the continent’s AI ecosystem. Our advanced compute power and AI capabilities, combined with Vambo AI’s goal of enabling the first Africa-native large language model series, reflect both organisations’ commitment to Africa’s digital advancement, and to positioning the continent as a key contributor to global AI innovation,” said Ahmed El Beheiry, CEO of Cassava Intelligence. 

The collaboration also promises to be a breakthrough for the open-source AI community, setting a precedent for responsible, transparent, and collaborative development. With the Jua Series being released under a permissive license, African developers and researchers will be able to access foundational tools that reflect their realities and power contextually relevant innovation.

This agreement is one of the most significant announcements to follow the April 2025 Global AI Summit on Africa, underscoring the momentum behind locally driven, globally competitive AI ecosystems. Cassava and Vambo AI’s mutual commitment to building the infrastructure and intelligence to power Africa’s digital and economic transformation, reflects a growing consensus that African technologies are playing an essential role in Africa’s future, and collaboration is the fastest path forward. 

Vambo AI is a multilingual generative AI company pioneering language technology for Africa. Its platform supports translation, transcription, content generation, and intelligent search across over 44 African and 20 global languages. Vambo AI’s mission is to foster inclusion and innovation by enabling access to AI tools that reflect Africa’s linguistic and cultural diversity. Through developer APIs, enterprise solutions and community-led initiatives, Vambo AI is empowering businesses, institutions and individuals to build contextually relevant AI applications for the continent and beyond. 

www.vambo.ai

Cassava Technologies is a global technology leader of African heritage providing a vertically integrated ecosystem of digital services and infrastructure enabling digital transformation. Headquartered in the UK, Cassava has a presence across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the United States of America. Through its business units, namely, Cassava AI, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Liquid C2, Africa Data Centres, and Sasai Fintech, the company provides its customers’ products and services in 94 countries. These solutions drive the company’s ambition of establishing itself as a leading global technology company of African heritage.

www.cassavatechnologies.com/