Africa gets ‘first AI factory,’ on-chain property evaluation

A Zimbabwean billionaire has announced a new partnership with American giant Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) to build “Africa’s first AI factory.”

Cassava Technologies, a United Kingdom-based tech firm focused on Africa and owned by Zimbabwe’s Strive Masiyiwa, announced the collaboration with Nvidia recently, describing it as a step forward in “making the continent economically competitive and future-ready.”

Cassava will deploy Nvidia’s artificial intelligence (AI) GPU and technology at its factory in South Africa over the next two months before embarking on a similar expansion of its other facilities in Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, and Morocco. The firm will offer AI as a service (AIaaS) to its clients around the continent at a friendly cost, enabling them to increase productivity and compete with global peers.

“Building digital infrastructure for the AI economy is a priority if Africa is to take full advantage of the fourth industrial revolution,” commented Masiyiwa.

As AI takes over the world, African firms have lagged behind, with the prohibitive costs of training AI models among the biggest factors. Many still rely on models trained in the United States and China, which are unable to capture the breadth of the African experience, as most of their training data is harvested from the global north.

“Our AI Factory provides the infrastructure for this innovation to scale, empowering African businesses, startups and researchers with access to cutting-edge AI infrastructure to turn their bold ideas into real-world breakthroughs—and now, they don’t have to look beyond Africa to get it,” added the telecoms tycoon.

The addressable market is massive. Data shows that Africa’s computing power only represents 0.1% of the global total. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) further points out that only 5% of the continent’s AI professionals have access to the computing power they need.

The announcement comes just weeks after Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) pledged to invest $300 million to expand its AI and cloud infrastructure in South Africa. Over the past three years, the tech giant has invested $1.1 billion in the country.

African AI startups have welcomed the new factory, which they say will drastically reduce their operating costs once it’s up and running.

South African firms launch blockchain-powered property ownership certificates

Still in South Africa, two local firms have launched a new property evaluation and ownership certificate system powered by blockchain technology.

Known as E-Deed, the new solution was developed by two local firms: Kasinomics and Afrirent. It provides an assessment and certification of a property’s value, with the digital proof stored on-chain for security and transparency.

E-Deed is targeting South Africa’s townships, which are often underdeveloped and densely populated. According to co-founder GG Alcock, homeowners in these areas have poured billions into their properties over the years, but existing technology has failed to capture this investment. Between 2010 and 2024, for instance, E-Deed’s technology assesses that residents of the Soweto township invested R13 billion ($708 million) into home improvements.

“However, the value they’ve created remains largely unrealised because traditional valuation models fail to recognise these investments and there have been no tools to do this evaluation. E-Deed changes that,” Alcock commented.

E-Deed will leverage blockchain alongside other emerging technologies, including AI and satellite imagery, to ensure its valuation reflects the real market value of the properties. Armed with these on-chain certificates, the residents can secure credit facilities, home insurance, and other financial services.

The new solution comes as South Africa is digitalizing its property deeds system. The country is implementing the Electronic Deeds Registration Systems Act, which mandates the government transition from a paper-based system to a digital alternative.

In order for artificial intelligence (AI) to work right within the law and thrive in the face of growing challenges, it needs to integrate an enterprise blockchain system that ensures data input quality and ownership—allowing it to keep data safe while also guaranteeing the immutability of data. Check out CoinGeek’s coverage on this emerging tech to learn more why Enterprise blockchain will be the backbone of AI.

Watch: Demonstrating the potential of blockchain’s fusion with AI