With cloud spend continuing to surge, tech companies are scrambling to meet demand for the necessary infrastructure, with the growing need for AI compute only adding fuel to the fire.
By way of example, Microsoft and BlackRock have created a $30 billion fund to support new data centers and energy infrastructure for the burgeoning AI boom, and Meta is planning a new $10 billion subsea cable that will span 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 funding round into Cassava Technologies, one of the partner companies involved in the Umoja project.
With its first African data center operational for a year, among other infrastructure projects such as the Equiano subsea cable, Google confirmed to TechCrunch that it’s now taking a direct equity stake in Cassava, though it didn’t provide comment on the rationale behind the investment. However, it’s clear that it’s looking to improve infrastructure across the continent. Indeed, Africa has been hit by widespread outages throughout 2024, which have been attributed to faulty undersea cables, so it makes sense that Google would want to fund efforts to bolster connectivity for consumers and businesses that might want to use its services.
Cassava announced $310 million in funding overall, though $220 million of that is in the form of a credit facility for one of its subsidiaries. The $90 million equity tranche included investments from the U.S. federal government’s International Development Finance Corporation (DFC); Finnish development finance company Finnfund; and Google itself. The funding will help Cassava: “… strengthen its balance sheet, drive sustainable profitable growth, and cement its position as a global technology company of African heritage,” according to a press release that also detailed a broader reorganization of the company.
“It’s a pivotal milestone that we expect to unlock immense value and catalyze the further expansion of our digital infrastructure and services to bridge the digital divide on the continent,” Cassava CEO and President Hardy Pemhiwa (pictured above) said.
Liquid assets
African telecommunication company Econet spun out Cassava in 2021, serving as a standalone business for Econet’s various digital services and infrastructure initiatives spanning data centers, fiber broadband networks, renewable energy, cloud, cybersecurity, and more. Although Africa is a major focal point for Cassava, it also operates across other “key growth markets” including the Middle East, India, and Latin America.
Among its business units is Liquid Intelligent Technologies, which worked with Google to build the terrestrial segment of Umoja; the cable starts in Kenya, and snakes through the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, before concluding its land journey in South Africa.
Separately, another of Cassava’s business units, Liquid C2, this year announced a partnership with Google and Anthropic to bring “advanced cloud, cybersecurity solutions, and generative AI” services to companies across Africa. This constituted part of Google’s previous commitment to invest $1 billion in Africa’s digital economy.
“Businesses are increasingly turning to generative AI to drive operational efficiencies, improve the customer experience, and empower their employees like never before,” Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said of its partnership with Liquid C2 at the time. “This partnership has the opportunity to transform how African businesses serve and engage their customers as we provide them a foundation for innovation.”
