Cassava Technologies, founded by telecoms billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, has announced the opening of Africa’s first artificial intelligence factory. This groundbreaking move is set to drive AI innovation in Africa and boost the continent’s digital independence. The firm has partnered with leading AI chipmaker Nvidia to deploy supercomputers powered by graphic processing units (GPUs) at its data centers in South Africa, with plans to expand to other facilities in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria.
The Global AI Summit on Africa, taking place in Kigali, Rwanda, is generating anticipation for the economic opportunities and innovation that lie ahead. Africa has lagged behind in the AI sector due to limited access to computing power. Only 5% of AI practitioners in Africa currently have access to computational power for research and innovation, hindering progress in the field.
The collaboration with Nvidia will provide better access to GPUs, spurring an AI revolution across the continent. This initiative is expected to accelerate progress for African businesses, startups, and researchers by offering cutting-edge AI infrastructure locally. The AI factory will empower innovators to turn their bold ideas into real-world breakthroughs without having to look beyond Africa for resources.
The development of local data centers with Nvidia GPU-powered supercomputers is seen as a game-changer for AI builders in Africa. The high cost of hardware has been a major obstacle to AI adoption on the continent, with GPUs priced significantly higher relative to income levels. This has led to a heavy reliance on foreign cloud services, which are costly due to data transmission challenges.
The move to establish Africa’s first AI factory signals a significant step towards democratizing AI and fostering innovation on the continent. With improved access to GPU technology, African businesses and researchers are poised to make significant strides in the field of artificial intelligence.
Celina Lee, CEO and co-founder, highlights the benefits of establishing Africa-based AI infrastructure for ‘Zindians’, including more affordable compute resources, faster access to AI tools, and lower latency to develop and deploy AI models efficiently. Nvidia’s GPUs play a crucial role in training and deploying complex AI models according to Joel Sagat/AFP/Getty Images. Lee emphasizes that leveraging Nvidia’s technology, used by tech giants such as OpenAI, Tesla, Meta, Google, would democratize AI development, strengthen local AI ecosystems, and foster innovation in sectors like agriculture, healthcare, and financial services. This approach aims to create more tailored solutions for Africa’s unique challenges. Increasing Africa’s representation in global AI training datasets is essential due to the current underrepresentation of African languages and dialects, and biases in training data, especially in facial recognition systems. Lee suggests that improved access to AI infrastructure would allow African practitioners to train models with local datasets, representing diverse demographics and environments. Challenges remain, such as unreliable power grids and limited access to internet apps for end users. Nonetheless, the move by Cassava is seen as a positive step towards boosting Africa’s AI capabilities. Tsado and Lee agree that this initiative sets a precedent for other tech leaders to invest in GPUs and support the growth of African AI communities. Strive Masiyiwa’s commitment is viewed as a significant milestone that may inspire similar actions in the future.
