The AI Skills and Compute Africa Foundation (AISCA) has opened its headquarters in Kigali, seeking to utilise its presence to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across the continent.

 

The foundation says it aims to break down barriers for young people, enabling them to become creators of AI products and services rather than just consumers.

This new focus on AI also signals a growing appetite among those who control infrastructure, data and computing power to build an ecosystem that supports innovators, policymakers and technology leaders in creating a conducive environment.

With seed funding from its founding technology partner, Cassava Technologies, AISCA is closing the ‘compute gap’ to enable African AI researchers and innovators to develop world-class solutions locally and build a scalable talent pipeline across the continent.

The foundation’s launch reflects a broader geopolitical and economic shift in which access to advanced computing resources has become a strategic asset comparable to energy, telecommunications, and natural resources. Africa, it argues, must not be left behind.“Africa has the talent, ideas and urgency to lead in applied AI. What has often been missing is access to computing power, coordinated ecosystem support, contextualised data sets and scalable pathways into dignified economic opportunities. AISCA is designed to help close those interconnected gaps,” said Isobel Acquah, AISCA’s chief executive.

AISCA says it will work closely with universities, venture ecosystems, governments, development agencies and private-sector partners to ensure that AI innovation is grounded in African priorities and accessible to local developers.

Read: Why Africa has a real chance to lead the way in AIAISCA’s collaboration with Cassava Technologies is notable, connecting it with one of the continent’s leading private investors in AI infrastructure.

Cassava has already invested substantially in Africa’s digital ecosystem, spanning fibre-optic networks, cloud platforms and data centres. Its support for AISCA signals growing recognition among African tech firms that AI infrastructure is not only a business opportunity but also a critical long-term strategic priority. AISCA is built around four core pillars, including:•Sovereign Compute – providing localised infrastructure in partnership with Cassava Technologies to ensure data and processing remain within African borders.•Curated Data – developing high-quality African datasets in critical sectors such as agriculture, health and climate.•Capacity Building – scaling AI skills across the value chain.•Community – creating a Pan-African network to identify, mentor and anchor top-tier technical talent.

Speaking at a ‘fireside’ conversation during the Kigali launch, Hardy Pemhiwa, President and Group CEO of Cassava Technologies, said: “While Cassava has invested millions of dollars in setting up AI infrastructure, supporting AISCA through enabling access to dedicated compute ensures that we are empowering African youth to utilise the rails to create localised value for their communities in practical and impactful ways.”Dr Agnes Kalibata, the chairperson of AISCA Board, said that Africa must begin developing technologies that respond to its own challenges rather than relying on imported solutions that often fail to meet local needs.

Through these pillars, AISCA aims to deliver measurable continental impact, including transitioning one million youth into dignified economic opportunities across the AI value chain, awarding compute grants to 25,000 AI-native innovators to build AI-enabled solutions, and supporting 10,000 researchers with grants and technical assistance to advance cutting-edge research from Africa.

Dr Agnes Kalibata, Chairperson of the AISCA Board, noted in her remarks that Africa must begin developing technologies that respond to its own challenges rather than relying on imported solutions that often fail to meet local needs.

Although it remains to be seen whether the foundation can fully deliver its ambition.

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