Strive Masiyiwa, Zimbabwe’s richest man, to launch Africa’s first AI factory with NVIDIA

Key Points

• Strive Masiyiwa’s Cassava Technologies plans to open Africa’s first AI factory, powered by NVIDIA, starting in South Africa by June 2025.
• The facility will provide AI computing power for businesses, governments, and researchers, boosting innovation while keeping data within the continent.
• Cassava will leverage its pan-African fiber network to offer AI as a Service, enhancing efficiency and sustainability across multiple African markets.

Zimbabwe’s richest man and only billionaire, Strive Masiyiwa, is making a bold move through his pan-African technology company, Cassava Technologies. The company has announced plans to launch Africa’s first AI factory—an advanced, secure data center powered by NVIDIA AI computing technology.

The project is a major step in Cassava’s push to accelerate Africa’s digital transformation. It will give businesses, governments, and researchers access to world-class AI computing, allowing them to develop cutting-edge solutions while keeping data within the continent.

Powering Africa’s AI revolution

According to the company, the AI factory will integrate NVIDIA’s accelerated computing and AI software using the NVIDIA Cloud Partner (NCP) reference architecture. The rollout will begin in South Africa by June 2025, with further expansion planned in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria.

Cassava will leverage its pan-African fiber-optic network to provide AI as a Service (AIaaS), helping businesses train, scale, and deploy AI models efficiently. Sustainability is also a key focus, with the data centers designed to optimize energy consumption while delivering high-performance computing.

Masiyiwa stresses AI infrastructure for Africa

Strive Masiyiwa, Founder & Chairman of Cassava Technologies, highlighted the significance of the partnership with NVIDIA, emphasizing Africa’s need for digital infrastructure to compete in the AI-driven world.

“Building digital infrastructure for the AI economy is critical for Africa to fully harness the potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” he said. “Our AI Factory lays the foundation for scalable innovation, empowering African startups, enterprises, and researchers with world-class AI capabilities—right here on the continent.”

By keeping AI infrastructure within Africa, the initiative ensures local businesses can develop and deploy AI solutions without relying on external data centers.

Cassava Technologies’ leadership in AI

Cassava Technologies has built a strong ecosystem of businesses, including Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Africa Data Centres, Liquid C2, Cassava.ai, and Sasai Fintech—all working toward a digitally connected Africa.

Founded by Masiyiwa, whose net worth is estimated at $1.2 billion, the company has positioned itself as a leader in Africa’s AI space. It has attracted a $90 million equity investment from DFC, Google LLC, and Finnfund, refinanced $220 million in South African Rand debt, and streamlined its operations to enhance its digital solutions.

With the introduction of NVIDIA GPU-based supercomputers, Cassava is closing Africa’s AI infrastructure gap, accelerating model training, fine-tuning, and deployment. The AI Factory cements Cassava’s role in shaping Africa’s AI future, driving responsible AI adoption, digital innovation, and sustainable growth.