Artificial intelligence is advancing in a uniquely African context on the back of new infrastructure and new products designed to meet local challenges. Three companies exemplify this emerging sector: Cassava Technologies in collaboration with NVIDIA building AI factories, and a Kenyan startup called Simba developing a chatbot that speaks local languages.
Developing the infrastructure, Cassava operates Africa Data Centres and they are collaborating with NVIDIA to establish the continent’s first AI factory. The factory is a data center powered by NVIDIA AI announced to begin operations in South Africa this month. More AI factories are later expected to open in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria.
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“Our AI Factory provides the infrastructure for this innovation to scale, empowering African businesses, startups and researchers to turn their bold ideas into real-world breakthroughs,” Cassava’s Founder, Strive Masiyiwa, said.
Echoing his sentiment, Jaap Zuiderveld, Vice President of NVIDIA’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region, said AI is already transforming key sectors like agriculture, healthcare, energy, and finance across Africa. With Cassava’s infrastructure, more companies and institutions will be able to leverage AI to drive sustainable development.
Ambassador Philip Figo, Kenya’s special envoy for technology, highlighted the importance of the AI factory in promoting innovation and supporting startups. “Cassava Technologies is putting up this first AI factory on the continent, which will specifically be geared towards supporting startups accessing AI capabilities and working with universities in research and development,” he said.
In Kenya, Simba AI has launched the first chatbot capable of understanding local dialects, making AI more relevant to local communities. Simba’s AI chatbot processes “low-resource languages” that are underrepresented online and in academic research. It has already outperformed global AI tools including ChatGPT and DeepSeek Assistant in terms of speed and contextual relevance.
Martin Matunga, Co-Founder of Simba AI, announced the launch of the chatbot in Nakuru, Kenya, where the company has set up an AI lab. The lab trains young people in data scraping, model creation, and AI deployment. Over the last year, more than 30 data scrapers have worked to develop the localized large language model on which Simba AI is built.
One of the unique features of Simba AI is its focus on job creation. The company aims to create more than one million jobs in the next year by training youth in AI-related skills such as data collection, model training, and solution development. This hands-on approach is turning Kenya from a consumer of AI technologies into a producer.
Simba AI is built on Lish AI Labs’ robust fiber-optic network and data center infrastructure, offering computing power to students, researchers, and businesses.
Joe Karanja, Head of Engineering at Lish AI Labs, emphasized the job potential that AI brings. “From the data aspect alone, there are numerous opportunities for youth in data collection, processing, and visualization,” he said. The goal is to move from basic annotation work to higher-level tasks like training models and building scalable AI solutions.
Randy Faulkner, CEO of Simba AI, added that ethical considerations are critical in AI deployment. He pointed out that data privacy, fairness, and robustness against misuse must be prioritized to build trust and ensure responsible usage. “Responsible and ethical use of AI is key to forging a future that benefits all Kenyans, positioning Kenya as a model for inclusive and sustainable AI development in Africa,” Faulkner stated.
Kenya’s position among Africa’s AI leadership has government support. Kenya’s Ministry of ICT and Digital Economy launched the Kenya National AI strategy (2025-2030). The strategy envisions new connectivity through fiber optic cable and 5G networks and new local data centers for high-performance computing and secure data storage powered with green energy. The support for local AI solutions is now pushing Kenya to the forefront among African countries at a time when Africa itself is rising in the global technology sector.
About the Author
Mercy Nduati is the Engineering for Change Editorial Fellow for 2025. She also works on the editorial staff of the Vennomax Media Network that publishes the Industrial Journal magazine. And she has written for the magazine Kenya Engineer, published by the Institution of Engineers in Kenya. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and media from Egerton University.
