Cassava Technologies partners with SAAIA to power Africa’s AI future

Cassava Technologies, a global technology leader with African heritage, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the South African Artificial Intelligence Association (SAAIA) to deliver advanced artificial intelligence (AI) solutions and GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) across Africa

The strategic partnership aims to bolster AI development by giving SAAIA’s community of over 3,000 AI practitioners—including entrepreneurs, researchers, and industry professionals—access to Cassava’s state-of-the-art data centre GPU infrastructure. This will enable them to develop, test, and deploy AI applications that address local and regional challenges.

As part of the collaboration, Cassava Technologies and SAAIA will also work together on joint initiatives that support the broader African AI ecosystem, promoting innovation, research, and sustainable growth.

“We are proud to partner with SAAIA to support the growth of Africa’s AI ecosystem. By extending our advanced AI infrastructure and capabilities to SAAIA’s growing community of AI professionals, we’re enabling greater access to the compute power required to build, test, and scale innovative local solutions. We believe this partnership will deliver meaningful value to both organisations and, more importantly, to the business and research communities driving AI development on the continent,” said Ziaad Suleman, CEO of Cassava Technologies South Africa and Botswana.

SAAIA, a leading force in South Africa’s AI landscape, is dedicated to promoting responsible AI by connecting AI practitioners from academia, government, private enterprise, startups, and NGOs. It is also the organiser of AI Expo Africa, the continent’s largest AI-focused event, and plays a key role in driving investment in Africa’s smart technology sector.

“SAAIA is pleased to be partnering with Cassava Technologies in strengthening AI in South Africa. Supporting local AI entrepreneurs is a key pillar of SAAIA, and access to GPU-as-a-Service is a key enabler to growing the emerging AI startup ecosystem,” said SAAIA Founder and Chairman, Dr Nick Bradshaw.

The partnership underscores Cassava’s commitment to advancing digital transformation across Africa. It follows the company’s recent announcement of plans to build the continent’s first AI factory, a move aimed at providing local businesses, governments, and academic institutions with access to cutting-edge AI computing capabilities. This initiative aligns with Cassava’s vision of becoming the leading provider of digital solutions across its markets and empowering Africans to thrive in the digital economy.