Pan-African tech group Cassava Technologies is ramping up its push into AI infrastructure, with plans to roll out “AI Factories” across key African markets and expand into Egypt, which it sees as a future hub for both investment and talent. The company is preparing to launch its first AI Factory in South Africa, while laying the groundwork for a potential entry into Egypt’s data center space through greenfield development, acquisitions, or both.

We spoke with Sherif Shaltout (LinkedIn), executive manager of Liquid C2 MENA, a Cassava Technologies company, about the group’s structure, investment pipeline, and how it is navigating energy constraints, regulation, and rising demand for AI infrastructure across the continent. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

EnterpriseAM: How is Cassava Technologies structured to support its massive infrastructure rollout?

Sherif Shaltout: Cassava Technologies is a pan-African technology group headquartered in London, with operations across around 17–18 countries. Liquid Intelligent Technologies is our connectivity arm, operating the largest private fiber network in Africa, spanning more than 110k km. “That’s the backbone of the group.”

We also run Liquid C2, which focuses on cloud and cybersecurity. This division was our entry point into the MENA region over the past three years. Additionally, Africa Data Centres operates seven data centers across South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Rwanda, with expansion plans including Egypt. We also operate Sasai Fintech, focused on digital payments. Most recently, we launched Cassava AI to focus on AI infrastructure — including AI Factories — and software solutions built on the Nvidia stack.

EnterpriseAM: You mentioned AI Factories. What exactly does that mean?

SS: An AI Factory is essentially a data center environment built entirely around graphics processing units (GPUs). We are launching our first AI Factory in Cape Town this April, equipped with over 2k Nvidia GPUs. We call it a factory because it takes raw data and produces intelligence, enabling clients to build models and extract value. It sits at the top of our integrated stack, layering GPUs directly over our connectivity, data centers, and cloud and cybersecurity services.

EnterpriseAM: Does Cassava build these data centers from the ground up, or do you focus strictly on the technology solutions?

SS: We build and own our data centers. The facilities we operate are either built from the ground up or acquired and upgraded by us. “We act very much like a real estate developer,” defining specifications and working with contractors to execute. While we are open to acquisitions, partnerships, or managing third-party infrastructure, our current assets are developed entirely in-house.

EnterpriseAM: How about power? How do you manage energy requirements?

SS: Data centers are measured by their power capacity. We design the requirements and work closely with partners to deliver the infrastructure, with a commitment to running all our data centers on 100% renewable energy by 2030.

EnterpriseAM: What are your expansion and investment priorities?

SS:GPU infrastructure in Africa will be concentrated in five key markets: South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco, and Egypt. South Africa is our immediate focus, with our first AI Factory launching in April, while we are expanding our existing capacity in Kenya.

EnterpriseAM: Where does Egypt fit into your broader strategy?

SS: Egypt is a priority market. We are exploring building a new data center, acquiring an existing facility, or a combination of both, with concrete plans to be announced in 2026. We see Egypt as our next major growth market after South Africa. At the group level, we expect our AI-related investments to exceed USD 700 mn across the continent in partnership with Nvidia.

Egypt is strategic on two fronts: As a market, we see it as the second-largest economy in Africa and should become a major revenue contributor within two to three years. As a capability hub, we are building Egypt as a regional center of excellence for cybersecurity, cloud, and AI talent.

EnterpriseAM: How is the group navigating data sovereignty requirements?

SS:The conversation has evolved from basic data sovereignty to digital sovereignty — not just where data sits, but who controls the infrastructure. We address this by building physical data centers in key markets, deploying mini clouds in smaller markets, and utilizing solutions like Azure Local and Google Distributed Cloud for secure, in-country deployment that can operate entirely independent from global networks.

EnterpriseAM: What are the biggest bottlenecks to scaling data centers in Africa?

SS: Three main challenges: energy, financing, and regulation. GPUs consume four to five times more power than traditional workloads. Furthermore, advanced data centers require significant capital, and regulatory constraints — particularly around GPU access and export controls — can slow deployment, with Africa often not prioritized.

EnterpriseAM: Do the opportunities outweigh these challenges?

SS: Absolutely. These are the exact same challenges we cleared when building Africa’s fiber infrastructure. There is a strong belief that Africa cannot afford to miss the AI wave. This is both a commercial opportunity and a long-term commitment to ensuring the continent is part of the global AI ecosystem.

EnterpriseAM: What does actual demand for AI infrastructure look like on the ground today?

SS: Demand in Africa is led by governments, financial services, and telecom operators, given their large datasets and clear use cases. We are also seeing a surge in interest from startups, particularly in markets like Kenya. In Egypt, the market is slightly earlier in its maturity cycle, so we expect demand to be driven primarily by large institutions in the near term.

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