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Cassava Technologies has announced plans to build what it calls "Africa's first AI Factory" by upgrading its data centers using Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) computing technology.

Cassava plans to deploy Nvidia accelerated computing and AI software, using Nvidia Cloud Partner reference architectures, at its data centers in South Africa by June 2025.

It also has expansions planned at its other data center facilities in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria.

Cassava said the upgraded data centers will give African businesses, governments and researchers access to cutting-edge AI computing capacity – "helping them develop smarter AI products, streamline operations and stay competitive in a fast-changing world."

Nvidia GPU-based supercomputers will power the AI Factory, enabling faster AI model training, fine-tuning and advanced inference capabilities, while keeping data within Africa's borders.

Cassava aims to be the first to introduce these accelerated computing platforms to Africa as an Nvidia Cloud Partner.

Casava said the AI Factory will also leverage the company's pan-African fiber-optic network with sustainable data centers to deliver AI-as-a-service (AIaaS).

In August 2024 Cassava launched a dedicated AI business unit, Cassava AI, which it said had capacity to provide services across the 40+ markets in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

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"Building digital infrastructure for the AI economy is a priority if Africa is to take full advantage of the fourth industrial revolution," said Strive Masiyiwa, founder and chairman of Cassava Technologies.

"Our AI Factory provides the infrastructure for this innovation to scale, empowering African businesses, startups and researchers with access to cutting-edge AI infrastructure to turn their bold ideas into real-world breakthroughs – and now, they don't have to look beyond Africa to get it," Masiyiwa added.

He said that collaborating with Nvidia gives Cassava the advanced computing capabilities needed to drive Africa's AI innovation while strengthening the continent's digital independence.

Cassava said that by using the AI Factory, African businesses and governments can develop local solutions to local challenges, enabling Africans to build, train, scale and deploy AI in a secure environment compliant with global and local regulations.

"AI is helping innovators solve our greatest challenges in agriculture, healthcare, energy, financial services and many other industries creating opportunity in Africa," said Jaap Zuiderveld, VP for EMEA at Nvidia.

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"As an Nvidia Cloud Partner, Cassava is providing essential infrastructure and software to help pioneering companies and organizations accelerate AI development to foster innovation across the continent," Zuiderveld added.

Headquartered in the UK, Cassava Technologies is a digital services and infrastructure provider operating across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the US.

Its business units include Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Cassava AI, Liquid C2, Africa Data Centres and Sasai Fintech.