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Withcloud spendcontinuingto surge , technical school companies are scrambling to adjoin need for the necessary base , with the growing motivation for AI computeonly tot fuel to the ardour .
By way of example , Microsoft and BlackRockhave created a $ 30 billion fundto support new data centers and energy infrastructure for the burgeon AI manna from heaven , and Meta isplanning a young $ 10 billion subsea cablethat will sweep the entire globe . Google , for its part , recently announced Umoja , the first subsea fiber - optic cable to connect Africa and Australia — and it ’s joining a $ 90 million support round intoCassava Technologies , one of the spouse companies affect in the Umoja project .
With itsfirst African data point centeroperational for a yr , amongother infrastructureprojects such as theEquianosubsea cable , Google confirmed to TechCrunch that it ’s now taking a direct fairness post in Cassava , though it did n’t provide comment on the rationale behind the investment funds . However , it ’s clear that it ’s looking to improve infrastructure across the continent . Indeed , Africa has been hit bywidespread outagesthroughout 2024,which have been attributedtofaultyundersea cables , so it makes sense that Google would desire to fund efforts to bolster connectivity for consumers and businesses that might want to use its services .
Cassavaannounced$310 million in backing overall , though $ 220 million of that is in the form of a acknowledgment facility for one of its underling . The $ 90 million fairness tranche included investments from the U.S. federal governing ’s International Development Finance Corporation ( DFC ) ; Finnish ontogenesis finance companyFinnfund ; and Google itself . The funding will help Cassava : “ … beef up its equilibrium sheet , drive sustainable profitable ontogeny , and cement its position as a global technology company of African heritage , ” according to a insistence discharge that also detail a broader shakeup of the fellowship .
“ It ’s a polar milestone that we bear to unlock huge value and catalyse the further expansion of our digital infrastructure and services to bridge over the digital divide on the continent , ” Cassava CEO and PresidentHardy Pemhiwa(pictured above ) say .
Liquid assets
African telecom company Econetspun outCassava in 2021 , serving as a standalone occupation for Econet ’s various digital services and infrastructure initiatives spanning datum heart , fibre broadband networks , renewable energy , cloud , cybersecurity , and more . Although Africa is a major focal dot for Cassava , it also operates across other “ key growth grocery store ” including the Middle East , India , and Latin America .
Among its business units isLiquid Intelligent Technologies , which worked with Google to build the terrestrial segment of Umoja ; the cable start in Kenya , and snakes through the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Rwanda , Uganda , Zambia , and Zimbabwe , before close its land journey in South Africa .
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individually , another of Cassava ’s business units , Liquid C2 , this year announced apartnership with Google and Anthropicto bring “ advanced swarm , cybersecurity solutions , and generative AI ” services to companies across Africa . This constitute part of Google ’s previouscommitment to invest $ 1 billionin Africa ’s digital economy .
“ business are increasingly turning to generative AI to repel operable efficiency , improve the customer experience , and endue their employees like never before , ” Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said of its partnership with Liquid C2 at the metre . “ This partnership has the opportunity to transform how African businesses function and charter their customer as we provide them a foundation for innovation . ”
