EGYPT UNVEILS $1BN PLAN FOR MAJOR AI DATA CENTRE

Egypt is set to develop its first large-scale artificial intelligence data centre as the country steps up efforts to establish itself as a major technology hub in Africa and the Middle East. The planned facility is expected to have a capacity of 200 megawatts and attract total investment of about $1 billion when the project reaches its full scale.

Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Raafat Hindi, announced the initiative as part of the government’s broader push to strengthen the country’s digital infrastructure. The project will initially begin with a 20-megawatt facility valued at approximately $200 million during its first three years, before being expanded towards the targeted 200-megawatt capacity.

The initial development will involve Vodafone Business, Elsewedy Electric and Cassava Technologies, with the facility expected to use accelerated computing technology from American chipmaker Nvidia. Cassava, which is Nvidia’s major partner in Africa, said the infrastructure will support advanced artificial intelligence workloads and provide organisations with access to high-performance computing resources within Egypt.

A separate partnership involving Vodafone Business and Cassava will focus on developing what the companies describe as Egypt’s first sovereign AI data centre. The facility is expected to allow organisations to develop and deploy AI applications while keeping sensitive data hosted and processed inside Egypt. It will also provide local GPU-as-a-Service, potentially helping businesses access high-performance computing without transferring sensitive information abroad.

The project comes as the United States and China compete for greater influence in the Middle East and Africa’s rapidly expanding technology sector. Egypt is seeking international partnerships to position itself as a regional data-centre hub, although the development of large AI facilities also presents major electricity demands. The government is developing a national data-centre strategy aimed at attracting investment, improving regulation, developing specialised skills and strengthening Egypt’s digital sovereignty.