Africa AI push grows as Cassava plans massive data centre expansion

Nvidia-backed Cassava Technologies is preparing a large funding drive to expand advanced data infrastructure across Africa, positioning the continent for faster access to artificial intelligence services.

The company plans to raise up to $700 million to support this effort.

It aims to make AI tools more affordable for businesses, nonprofits, and communities that have limited access to technology.

The move comes as global interest in AI accelerates and as African organisations look for cheaper and more reliable local computing power.

Funding strategy

Cassava will seek both debt and equity as part of its capital raise. The company, founded by Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, has not disclosed further details about the structure of the financing.

The plan is centred on equipping data centres across Africa with around 12,000 Nvidia graphics processing units.

South Africa will serve as the starting point for the southern region, followed by expansions to the north, east, and west.

The approach is designed to reduce reliance on overseas servers, lower costs, and improve speed for users across the continent.

The company is also coordinating with the Rockefeller Foundation to provide subsidised access to AI capacity for nonprofits.

The initiative is aimed at lowering the price of essential services in areas such as agriculture, health, and education.

Cassava officials have explained that the idea is to offer computer resources that are partly funded by the organisation and its partners, making it easier for African developers to build tools with local data.

Discussions shaping this plan took place at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center in Italy.

AI access gap

Africa currently holds less than 1% of the world’s data centre capacity, even though global technology companies are spending heavily on new facilities to support AI development.

At the same time, AI adoption is rising across Africa, where many communities use digital tools to access banking, health care, and other services that are limited or unavailable offline.

Because the continent has the world’s fastest-growing young population, demand for AI services is expected to keep escalating.

Cassava’s new model will give successful startups and nonprofits increased access to discounted AI technology.

The concept is structured as a credit system in which stronger performance by an organisation results in greater affordability of the tools they use.

The goal is to encourage long-term growth of local AI ecosystems rather than relying on imported solutions.

Innovation support

Around 1,100 African startups working in sectors such as agriculture and health are being considered for inclusion in the programme.

One of these organisations is Digital Green, a nonprofit that supports small and subsistence farmers by helping them detect diseases, choose treatments and adopt better agricultural practices.

The nonprofit receives funding from the social responsibility divisions of major technology companies, including Google, Microsoft and Meta.

Digital Green originally relied on community-based video demonstrations. Over time, it expanded to AI-driven WhatsApp services that answer farmer questions through text, images, and video.

This shift helped the organisation reduce its annual cost of agricultural support from $35 per person to 3.5 US cents. \

As a result, it has expanded to reach 8 million people across Africa and Southeast Asia.

The nonprofit expects that lower regional AI costs from Cassava would allow it to scale its services further.

Local data centres are viewed as especially important because using GPU clouds located in distant regions, such as North America, increases both costs and delays.

Cassava’s plan aims to minimise these challenges by strengthening on-continent infrastructure and lowering access barriers for innovators.