Cassava Technologies has partnered with The Rockefeller Foundation to accelerate Africa’s participation in the projected US$1.2 trillion AI economy. This collaboration aims to enhance productivity and foster innovation across African organizations improving lives in agriculture, healthcare, and education.
Expanding Africa’s AI Ecosystem
Cassava, which is developing Africa’s first AI factory powered by NVIDIA infrastructure, will provide compute access to several Rockefeller Foundation grantees in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe. This local capacity is critical, as Africa currently holds less than 1% of global data center capacity despite nearly one in five people worldwide residing on the continent.IntelliNews
“AI presents Africa with a major opportunity to drive economic growth and create jobs for the youth. By providing compute power locally, our AI factory enables startups, public sector entities, and educational institutions to develop solutions tailored to Africa’s unique needs, including local languages and datasets. Partnering with Rockefeller Foundation allows us to bring this capacity to the continent’s AI ecosystem,” said Hardy Pemhiwa, President and Group CEO of Cassava Technologies.
AI for Social Impact and Economic Growth
Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation, emphasized, “AI can transform communities—helping farmers, improving education, and enhancing healthcare. Our collaboration with Cassava ensures African innovators have the tools needed to leverage AI for development, creating inclusive opportunities across the continent.”
The initiative supports African-led innovations, particularly in cassava agriculture technology, healthcare, and education. Key organizations benefiting include:
- Digital Green: Using AI in Ethiopia and Kenya to empower smallholder farmers with real-time, localized agricultural advice. Its AI assistant, Farmer.Chat, now leverages local GPU infrastructure to deliver climate-smart guidance at drastically reduced costs, supporting Africa’s diverse languages and farming ecosystems.
- Jacaranda Health: In Kenya, AI-powered tools connect mothers and babies with critical care in real-time. GPU access enables culturally-attuned multilingual AI models, helping prevent maternal deaths and strengthen local health capacity.
- Rising Academies: In Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone, AI tools improve learning outcomes for over 250,000 students. LearnLens and Rori platforms reduce teacher workload while enhancing literacy and numeracy, making quality education accessible in rural communities. africa-newsroom.com
Strengthening Africa’s AI Infrastructure
Cassava recently launched GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS), housed in secure data centers and powered by NVIDIA AI infrastructure. Expansion across East, West, and North Africa underscores Cassava’s commitment to responsible AI adoption, productivity growth, and inclusive innovation.
“Partnerships like this are essential to ensure Africans are not only consumers of AI but creators. Together with Rockefeller Foundation, we are building an ecosystem that is inclusive, sustainable, and globally competitive,” added Hardy Pemhiwa.
This collaboration highlights how AI technology impact Africa can be maximized through strategic investments and locally accessible compute capacity, driving economic development and social progress across the continent.
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This story is based on a Cassava Technologies press release. Read the full article here.
