Cassava Technologies has announced major progress in establishing Africa’s first large-scale AI factory, supported by 12,000 Nvidia GPUs now being deployed across five sites on the continent, including one near Cape Town. The announcement was made at AfricaCom 2025 in Cape Town, where the company detailed its GPU-as-a-Service model to accelerate AI development without requiring businesses to invest in costly hardware.
Founder and chairman Strive Masiyiwa said he personally secured the GPUs following discussions in Silicon Valley with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Cassava is now the first preferred Nvidia Cloud Partner in Africa, aiming to expand GPU access for startups, governments, and enterprises to develop AI locally — enhancing digital sovereignty and reducing reliance on offshore compute resources.
Nvidia’s EMEA leadership said Africa is emerging as a strong AI adopter, citing growth opportunities driven by energy availability, local innovation, and digital economy expansion. Cassava’s ecosystem includes Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Africa Data Centres, Distributed Power Africa, and Sasai Fintech — enabling integrated delivery of compute, connectivity, and power infrastructure across South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and Morocco.
Cassava says local compute capacity will lower AI development costs and empower African innovators to build solutions using regional data, languages, and priorities — ensuring Africa shapes its own technological future in the global AI landscape.
