Cassava Technologies has announced yet another partnership in its goal of driving Africa’s artificial intelligence (AI) future.
This time, they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sand Technologies, a U.S.-based enterprise AI solutions company.
They say the goal is to boost AI accessibility for African businesses. The announcement was made at the Global AI Summit on Africa in Kigali, Rwanda.
Betting Big on GPUaaS
According to the companies, the collaboration will enable Sand Technologies to tap into Cassava’s NVIDIA-powered GPU infrastructure to deliver AI solutions across industries, including healthcare, energy, insurance, telecommunications, and water.
The partnership aims to improve access to GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS). Cassava is betting big on this GPUaaS being a key enabler for businesses looking for scalable and affordable AI processing power.
A Growing List of AI Announcements
Said Hardy Pemhiwa, President and Group CEO of Cassava Technologies.
As more businesses across Africa seek to harness the potential of AI, the demand for powerful GPU processing capabilities is increasing.
By providing Sand Technologies with access to Cassava’s GPU solutions, we are not only enabling them to develop advanced AI solutions for their clients but also expanding Cassava’s own footprint into these industries.
This is just the latest in a bunch of AI news we’ve heard from Cassava Technologies lately.
A couple of months ago, in March, they shared their big plans for what they’re calling Africa’s first “AI factory.” They are building something they believe will give African governments, new companies, and researchers access to some serious computing power.
Then, just a few weeks after that, Cassava teamed up with Zindi, a platform for data science competitions in Africa, to give developers even better tools to work with.
The Zimbabwe Question
While these moves show that Cassava is ambitious about AI innovation in Africa, they also raise an important question: when will these promises translate into tangible results, especially in Cassava’s ancestral home market of Zimbabwe?
Cassava was born out of the Econet Group if you get down to it and so it has has deep Zimbabwean roots. However, Cassava’s AI push is largely centred outside the country.
None of the announced initiatives have yet pointed to pilot programs or infrastructure deployment in Zimbabwe.
From the outside looking in, it does not appear as if any Zimbabwean companies are currently benefiting directly from these initiatives. There may well be stuff happening behind the scenes, and Cassava could clarify if that is the case.
We all can’t wait to see the real impact of these plans because MoUs aren’t enough without follow-through.
We’ve seen this all before in Africa’s tech scene: companies announce big partnerships and sign high-profile Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), but the follow-up doesn’t always match the hype.
These deals often talk a big game, but they don’t always lead to results people on the ground can feel or benefit from—at least not right away. Here’s hoping these Cassava ones won’t fall into the same hole.
Zimbabwe Cannot Fall Behind Again
Zimbabwe should not get left behind while the rest of the continent takes the AI leap forward.
That means local institutions, startups, and policymakers need to engage with Cassava and other companies doing these things and push for inclusion in pilot programs and ensure Zimbos benefit from the growing AI ecosystem.
Until then, the MoUs will continue to sound good, but the real proof will come when developers and businesses in Harare, Bulawayo, or Mutare can point to working systems built on these GPUaaS platforms — not just headlines from Kigali.
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