Excitement Grows in Kigali for Africa’s AI Revolution

In the vibrant city of Kigali, Rwanda, anticipation is palpable as the Global AI Summit on Africa kicks off today. This event signals a bright future filled with opportunities and innovation for the continent.

A significant boost to this excitement came from Cassava Technologies, a tech enterprise spearheaded by Zimbabwean telecom mogul Strive Masiyiwa. Last week, the company announced plans to establish Africa’s very first "artificial intelligence factory" in collaboration with Nvidia, a prominent AI chip manufacturer known for their powerful supercomputers.

Starting as soon as June, Nvidia’s graphic processing units (GPUs) will be deployed at Cassava’s data centers in South Africa. These will eventually expand to locations in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria, marking a monumental step towards enhancing Africa’s capacity in AI development.

Africa has lagged in the global AI race, primarily due to limited access to computing power. A report from Zindi, a community of 80,000 AI practitioners across 52 African nations, revealed that only 5% of these innovators have access to the necessary computational resources for research and innovation. As Alex Tsado, founder and director of Alliance4AI, points out, access to GPUs is crucial for accelerating Africa’s AI aspirations. He notes that the absence of large GPU clusters has hindered progress: “If you don’t have access to GPUs, it takes you many more hours, if not days, to build the same solutions than it would take someone in a region like the US or Europe.”

Access to these advanced technologies is expected to revitalize the ecosystem around AI development, encouraging a surge in data gathering and talent training throughout the continent. Cassava’s upcoming data centers will empower businesses and researchers to harness the AI computing power needed to innovate efficiently and securely.

“Our AI factory provides the infrastructure for innovation to scale,” Masiyiwa stated in a press release. “We’re enabling African startups and researchers to access cutting-edge AI tools right here at home, minimizing the need to seek resources abroad.”

Financial barriers still pose a challenge, as the cost of essential hardware remains disproportionately high relative to income levels in Africa. For instance, some of Nvidia’s GPUs can cost up to $40,000, an amount that may represent a staggering 75% of Kenya’s GDP per capita—31 times more expensive than in Germany when adjusted for income.

Zindi’s CEO and co-founder, Celina Lee, believes this development represents a watershed moment for AI practitioners across the continent. By creating locally based data centers powered by Nvidia GPUs, African innovators will gain access to affordable and efficient computational resources, encouraging the rapid development of homegrown solutions tailored to the continent’s unique challenges.

Implementing this cutting-edge technology—utilized by tech giants like OpenAI and Google—will not only democratize access to AI but also enrich local ecosystems, driving advancements in essential sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, and financial services. Moreover, this move could enhance Africa’s representation in global AI training datasets, which have often neglected African languages and cultures due to data scarcity.

Improved infrastructure will enable practitioners to develop models using localized datasets that accurately reflect Africa’s diversity. However, hurdles still remain, such as addressing unreliable power supply issues and optimizing AI models for end users who may not have access to high-quality smartphones or stable internet.

Despite these challenges, experts agree that Cassava’s initiatives mark a significant leap forward. Tsado emphasizes the importance of this public commitment: “Strive Masiyiwa’s announcement can trigger other influential figures to invest in Africa’s AI community as well.”

With excitement surrounding the summit and the promise of greater resources, it’s clear that the AI landscape in Africa is on the brink of transformation. There’s much to look forward to as the continent stands to benefit immensely from these technological advancements.

The AI Buzz Hub team is excited to see where these breakthroughs take us. Want to stay in the loop on all things AI? Subscribe to our newsletter or share this article with your fellow enthusiasts.