Kenya has officially launched East and Central Africa’s first GPU-powered Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure, reinforcing its position as a continental technology powerhouse.
The groundbreaking facility—developed by Atlancis Technologies under the Servernah Cloud brand, in partnership with Everse Technology and iXAfrica Data Centres—marks a historic milestone in Africa’s journey toward AI independence.
This next-generation computing platform enables enterprises, startups, universities, government agencies, and innovators to train and deploy AI models locally, eliminating the need to export sensitive data or rely on overseas cloud resources.
Why GPU-Powered AI Infrastructure Matters
AI and Machine Learning tasks such as:
- Training large language models (LLMs)
- Real-time image and video recognition
- Processing massive datasets
- Running complex scientific workloads
…require enormous parallel computing power. GPUs—not CPUs—are specifically engineered to handle these operations efficiently.
The Servernah AI Factory, powered by NVIDIA enterprise-grade GPUs and built using Open Compute Project (OCP) standards, delivers hyperscale compute capacity optimized for Africa’s energy, cost, and connectivity realities.
“The Heart of Africa’s AI Revolution” — Leaders Speak
Daniel Njuguna, CEO of Atlancis Technologies, describes the facility as a catalytic engine for African innovation:
“This is more than HPCs and GPUs; it’s the heart of Africa’s AI revolution.”
Michael Michie, CEO of Everse Technology, added:
“We are proving that world-class innovation can be designed, built, and powered from within Africa.”
Their message is clear: Africa’s AI future requires local infrastructure, local talent, and local data sovereignty.
Fixing Africa’s AI Compute Gap
Globally, AI compute access is extremely uneven:
- North America: 70%
- Europe: 20%
- Africa: Less than 2%
This imbalance determines who trains advanced models—and who controls the economic and governance implications of AI.
Ambassador Philip Thigo, Kenya’s Special Envoy on Technology, emphasized the importance of sovereign innovation:
“This milestone represents a shift from dependency to design, where Africa begins to compute its own intelligence.”
He stressed that no continent should outsource its intelligence, especially as AI becomes central to economies, security, and governance.
Aligned With Kenya’s Artificial Intelligence Vision
Under President William Ruto, Kenya has been building a blueprint for an AI Stack for Sovereign Development, which includes:
- Data governance
- Compute infrastructure
- AI talent development
- Local AI use cases for public good
- Ethical and secure AI governance frameworks
The new GPU-based AI Factory strengthens Kenya’s position as Africa’s regional hub for sovereign digital infrastructure.
Hosted at Africa’s Most Advanced AI-Ready Data Centre
The facility is located at iXAfrica’s NBOX1 campus, the region’s first hyperscale, carrier-neutral data centre engineered for high-density AI workloads.
Key features include:
- Power densities reaching 50kW per rack
- 99.999% uptime
- A connection to Kenya’s renewable energy grid
- Environmentally sustainable cooling and power systems
iXAfrica CEO Snehar Shah stated:
“This is how we build the foundation for Africa’s intelligent future — locally powered and globally competitive.”
What This Means for Kenya’s Digital Economy
The new GPU-powered AI infrastructure unlocks massive opportunities, especially for Kenyan:
- Fintech startups
- EdTech and HealthTech innovations
- Agritech and climate prediction tools
- Manufacturing automation
- Government digital services
- Universities and research institutions
- Creators and AI developers
Local access to high-performance compute will lower costs, protect data, and inspire a new wave of homegrown AI solutions.
Conclusion: Kenya Steps Into the Future of Computing
The launch of the Servernah AI Factory represents more than just new hardware—it is a strategic shift in Africa’s technological power.
By investing in sovereign AI infrastructure, Kenya is not only reducing reliance on foreign compute resources but also empowering local innovators to build solutions for Africa’s unique challenges.
Kenya has now firmly positioned itself on the global AI map—and the ripple effects across East and Central Africa will be transformative.
