Cassava Technologies plans to build Africa’s first artificial intelligence (AI) factory in SA. The secure facility will be powered by Nvidia AI computing technology.
According to a statement, the new plans form part of the company’s strategy to upgrade its local data centres, to provide African businesses, governments and researchers access to the latest AI computing capacity. This will help clients develop smarter AI products, streamline operations and stay competitive in a fast-changing world, it says.
The new AI factory will provide the supercomputers and software needed to train AI, while keeping data within Africa’s borders.
Cassava says it plans to deploy Nvidia accelerated computing and AI software using Nvidia Cloud Partner architecture, at its data centres in SA, by June.
Expansion is planned at its other data centre facilities in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria at a later stage.
“Building digital infrastructure for the AI economy is a priority if Africa is to take full advantage of the fourth industrial revolution,” says Strive Masiyiwa, founder and chairman of Cassava.
“Our AI factory provides the infrastructure for this innovation to scale, empowering African businesses, start-ups and researchers with access to cutting-edge AI infrastructure to turn their bold ideas into real-world breakthroughs.
“Collaborating with Nvidia gives us the advanced computing capabilities needed to drive Africa’s AI innovation, while strengthening the continent’s digital independence.”
Cassava Technologies provides a vertically-integrated ecosystem of digital services and infrastructure, enabling digital transformation for African firms.
The AI factory will leverage the company’s Pan-African high-speed, ultra-low-latency, fibre-optic network with sustainable data centres to deliver AI-as-a-service, it notes.
Nvidia’s GPU-based supercomputers will power the AI factory, enabling faster AI model training, fine-tuning and advanced inference capabilities, it adds.
“AI is helping innovators solve our greatest challenges in agriculture, healthcare, energy, financial services and many other industries, creating opportunity in Africa,” says Jaap Zuiderveld, VP of EMEA at Nvidia.
“As an Nvidia Cloud Partner, Cassava is providing essential infrastructure and software to help pioneering companies and organisations accelerate AI development to foster innovation across the continent.”
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