Africa’s Great Leap Forward? How Strive Masiyiwa & Cassava Technologies Plan To Build Africa’s AI Factories

Earlier today, Strive Masiyiwa, Founder & Executive Chairman of Cassava Technologies, unveiled “Project Mufungi” — a multi-billion-dollar partnership with NVIDIA to build Africa’s first hyperscale AI Factories. You can read about it here.

Cassava Technologies, operating in 94 countries, is Africa’s digital infrastructure leader, driving transformation through fiber networks, data centers, cloud, cybersecurity, fintech, and now AI. Their bold mission is to connect Africa to the digital economy — ensuring no African is left behind.

Through Project Mufungi, Cassava is laying the foundation for Africa’s participation in the global AI revolution, providing the compute infrastructure to run AI workloads at scale — for Africa, by Africa.

What Is An AI Factory?

But first, what is an AI factory? According to NVIDIA, AI Factories are the next evolution of computing infrastructure — purpose-built to produce one thing: intelligence.

Unlike traditional data centers, AI Factories integrate advanced computing, massive datasets, and machine learning pipelines to:

• Ingest and process data
• Train and refine AI models
• Continuously generate intelligence tokens that power real-world AI applications

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang calls AI Factories “the most important buildings of our time” — essential for powering everything from generative AI to autonomous systems and scientific breakthroughs.

Who Is NVIDIA & Why Does it Matter?

NVIDIA, founded in 1993, is a global technology giant based in California. The company pioneered graphics processing units (GPUs) — the engines now driving the world’s most advanced AI systems.

Today, NVIDIA powers everything from OpenAI’s ChatGPT, autonomous vehicles, drug discovery platforms, to high-performance AI Factories globally. Its market cap recently surpassed US$3 trillion, making it one of the most valuable businesses in the world — and a key player in shaping the future of AI.

The Global AI Factory Race — And Why Africa Must Join It

Worldwide, countries and regions are scrambling to secure AI infrastructure:

• EU is investing heavily in sovereign AI Factories to reduce dependence on US and China
• India and Japan are building their own to serve agriculture, health, and fintech sectors
• Norway is leveraging green energy to create sustainable AI compute hubs

Why? Because nations that control AI compute will control their digital futures.

Why Project Mufungi Is Potentially A Game-Changer For Africa

For too long, Africa has been a consumer of global technologies — often locked out of the innovation loop or impacted by technology that doesn’t understand the continent’s languages, cultures, or contexts.

Project Mufungi changes that:

• Localized AI models: Built with African data, in African languages, reflective of African realities.
• Solutions for African challenges: Agriculture, healthcare, education, climate resilience, fintech — all powered by homegrown AI.
• Fueling Africa’s digital economy: Cassava’s “Intelligence as a Service” (CIaaS) platform gives African innovators access to world-class AI compute without relying on global infrastructure.

Addressing AI Bias — Why This Matters For Africa

One of the most urgent global conversations in AI is around bias and fairness. Many AI models today are trained on datasets dominated by Western or non-African perspectives, leading to inherent biases, inaccuracies, and even discrimination when applied in African contexts.

Project Mufungi directly addresses this problem by:

• Enabling the development of AI models trained on African data, languages, and cultural nuances
• Ensuring AI applications understand and respect Africa’s diverse socio-economic, historical, and linguistic contexts
• Reducing reliance on “one-size-fits-all” global models that often fail African users

This initiative gives Africa the power to shape AI that is fair, inclusive, and truly representative — minimizing bias and ensuring ethical, responsible AI for Africans by Africans.

The Challenges — Monetization & The Long Game

Even globally, the economics of AI Factories are tough — billions are being spent, with profitability still years away.

Africa’s success will depend on:

• Affordable and competitive pricing
• World-class performance
• Patience and long-term investment — because this is a generational play, not a quick win

The Big Picture — Digital Sovereignty & Economic Growth

NVIDIA sums it up best: AI Factories are fueling a new industrial revolution — one where intelligence is the world’s most valuable product.

For Africa, this means:

• Owning our AI future — infrastructure, models, and IP
• Creating industries, jobs, and innovation ecosystems
• Shaping AI narratives, ethics, and policy from within the continent

Final Thoughts & Next Steps

Project Mufungi is not just about technology — it’s about digital sovereignty, fairness, and Africa’s rightful place in the global AI-powered future.

Strive Masiyiwa and Cassava Technologies are showing what bold, visionary leadership looks like. The AI era is here — and Africa is going to build its own factories of intelligence.

This is how we change the game. This is how we ensure Africa is not just participating — but leading in the inevitable future of AI.