Alexander Tsado is building local artificial intelligence infrastructure in Africa, targeting a market that currently holds roughly 0.6 per cent of global data centre capacity.
While working as an engineer and product manager at Nvidia, Tsado built the company’s GPU cloud business. He observed a distinct gap in how global demand was met. There was a structural problem,
Tsado said.
There was nothing set up to serve our continent, even if our continent got interested.
He also recalls that two prominent African businessmen approached Nvidia to explore opportunities and received no response, prompting him to contact the company’s chief executive directly.
The cloud platform allows developers to run GPUs for less than $1 an hour. Udu has raised funding from venture capital firms, angel investors, and corporate investors linked to the telecommunications sector, and has helped drive a project involving GPU deployments across six African countries referenced in a United Nations Development Programme report.
Broader industry figures highlight the scale of capital moving into regional digital infrastructure. According to the African Data Centre Association’s 2026 industry report, Africa accounts for approximately 0.6 per cent of global data centre capacity. To counter this, Zimbabwe-founded Cassava Technologies partnered with Nvidia on an investment programme of up to $720 million across African markets.
In September 2026, a separate collaboration involving Vodafone Business, Elsewedy Electric, and Cassava Technologies announced a $1 billion data centre development programme in Egypt, including plans for a sovereign AI facility. The initial phase is expected to provide 20 megawatts of capacity, with the potential to expand to 200 megawatts.
Electricity supply issues continue to hinder operations. Without enough trained professionals in data centre management, cybersecurity, cloud computing, AI engineering, and energy systems, locally owned infrastructure could remain dependent on foreign companies for critical technical operations.
Udu is targeting deals worth more than $100 million within three to five years as it collaborates with institutional partners on multi-country GPU deployments.