Vodafone Business and Cassava Technologies have partnered to develop Egypt’s first AI factory, creating sovereign AI infrastructure that will enable organisations and government agencies to host, process and operate artificial intelligence applications locally.
The initiative combines Vodafone Egypt’s enterprise capabilities with Cassava Technologies’ NVIDIA-powered cloud infrastructure, giving businesses and public-sector organisations access to accelerated computing while allowing sensitive data to remain within Egypt.
Cassava Technologies, Africa’s first NVIDIA cloud partner, will provide access to NVIDIA AI infrastructure through Vodafone Business, including GPU-as-a-Service. The offering is designed to support AI workloads such as model training and inference at scale.
The companies said the AI factory will strengthen Egypt’s digital sovereignty while improving data protection, cybersecurity and local control over AI workloads. It is also expected to support Egypt’s ambition to position itself as a regional hub for artificial intelligence and advanced technologies.
Mahmoud El-Khatib, Vice President of Enterprise Business at Vodafone Egypt, said the partnership represents a significant step in strengthening the country’s AI infrastructure and supporting local data residency.
The AI factory will provide a full-stack infrastructure environment where organisations and government agencies can develop and operate AI applications within Egypt. Local hosting and processing will also help organisations meet regulatory and data residency requirements.
Ahmed El Beheiry, Group Chief Technology & AI Officer and CEO of Cassava AI, said the initiative is intended to empower African businesses to participate more actively in global technology development while maintaining greater control over their data and technology environments.
Beyond infrastructure, the partnership will provide access to training and enablement programmes within the NVIDIA ecosystem. These programmes are expected to help organisations build AI capabilities and develop the skills required to deploy, operate and manage AI solutions.
The infrastructure could also help organisations improve cybersecurity, protect sensitive information and develop AI-powered products and services more efficiently. The initiative comes as governments and businesses increasingly explore sovereign computing and AI-optimised cloud infrastructure alongside conventional public cloud services.
Growing demand for generative AI and other advanced applications has increased the need for accelerated computing, particularly GPUs capable of supporting large-scale model training and inference.
Vodafone Egypt and Cassava Technologies said the project could contribute to the wider development of Egypt’s AI ecosystem by attracting investment in advanced data centres and AI infrastructure while creating opportunities in technology, skills development and innovation.
The AI factory forms part of Vodafone Egypt’s broader investment programme in the country. The company plans to invest more than $385 million during the current fiscal year, following investments of more than $2.4 billion over 28 years.
The partnership is expected to strengthen Egypt’s digital economy by providing locally hosted AI infrastructure capable of supporting growing demand for advanced computing while giving organisations greater control over their data, applications and AI environments.
