Africa is entering a new phase of digital development where countries no longer want to depend on foreign systems to run their data, train their models or host their innovations. The AI Hub for Sustainable Development, co-designed with the G7 and the African Union under Italy’s presidency, is helping turn this ambition into reality. The initiative is built to ensure that the future of artificial intelligence is created by Africa, with Africa and for Africa.
It supports builders who are creating local data centers, GPU clouds, sovereign digital networks and technical training platforms. These investments will lower costs for startups, strengthen government systems, support universities and help African innovators compete on equal terms. This first group in the Infrastructure Builder Programme shows how much potential exists across the continent. Each company is solving a different challenge but together they are creating the foundation that will allow Africa’s digital economy to grow for decades.
The Programme and Its Impact
For many years African innovators have had to rely on infrastructure hosted in other parts of the world. This made development expensive, slow and dependent on foreign access. The ten selected ventures are changing this. They are building data centers, cloud networks and digital infrastructure that accept local payment, allow data to stay within national borders and are designed for African environments. Their work will shape whether future startups can operate at lower cost, whether researchers can train models without high fees and whether governments can adopt AI systems with full sovereignty.
The AI Hub for Sustainable Development complements the grassroots innovation efforts led by UNDP’s Timbuktoo. Together, they help unlock resources, partnerships and pathways to markets while strengthening local talent pipelines. By selecting these ten ventures, the Hub is showing that Africa is ready to build its own infrastructure instead of relying on global hyperscalers.
Below are the inaugural members of the AI Infrastructure Builder Programme,
The Ten Infrastructure Builders
Waziup (WaziLab)
Founder: Dr.-Ing Abdur Rahim
WaziLab, powered by Waziup e.V., is building Africa’s first integrated AI and IoT training ecosystem. The company is creating a digital infrastructure that links innovation hubs, research institutions and startups through a virtual learning and prototyping environment. Its hybrid platform includes IoT hardware, Edge AI tools, virtual labs, course libraries and collaboration systems that support blended learning and hands-on testing.
WaziLab already partners with digital innovation hubs in Africa and Europe, as well as vocational training centers in Kenya and Tanzania. Through this programme, Waziup aims to expand WaziLab across the continent to ensure accessible AI and IoT training for everyone. This work will strengthen talent pipelines, support applied research and increase local ownership of AI innovation.
Udu Technologies
Founder: Alexander Tsado
Udu Technologies is focused on democratizing GPU access in Africa. The company offers GPU-as-a-Service through its Udu Africa GPU Hub and Udu-Rayda marketplace. Its services are up to 40 percent cheaper than global providers, making compute more affordable for researchers, startups and governments.
Active in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa, Udu Technologies also provides financing, consulting, and hardware sourcing. Being selected for both the Infrastructure Builder and Compute Ready tracks will allow the company to expand its GPU network and demonstrate the value of local compute at scale. Udu is building a future where African innovators no longer struggle with compute shortages.
Rydlr Cloud Services Ltd
Founder: Ted Iro Opiyo
Rydlr Cloud Services is developing a Tier IV Green Data Centre in Kenya alongside a hybrid GPU cloud network. The company integrates renewable energy with cloud and AI infrastructure to reduce cost and ensure sustainability. Its 50 MW wind and solar-powered Kipeto Green Data Centre will set a new standard for high-reliability infrastructure in Africa.
Rydlr works with partners such as NVIDIA, Microsoft, Google Cloud, IATA and Liquid C2. Its expansion plans include multi-country growth, digital-twin systems and GPU cloud access for advanced AI model training. Rydlr’s mission supports data sovereignty, security and sustainable digital growth for the region.
Horus Labs
Founder: Raymond U. Ononiwu
Co-founders: Ludovic Bernad and Dennis A. Gerdts
Horus Labs builds modular, renewable-powered edge data centers suited to African climates. Headquartered in Kigali, the company fills a gap between traditional colocation providers and large hyperscalers.
Its infrastructure allows customers to spin up GPUs locally with local mobile money billing, solving a major challenge for many African users who cannot access international payment rails. The company has secured financial support of up to US$55 million and will commission its first 1MW facility in Kigali between Q3 and Q4 2026 with plans to expand to nine countries. Horus Labs also deploys engineers to help governments and enterprises turn data into operational AI models. Its selection into both AI Hub tracks will accelerate these efforts significantly.
Flapmax
Founder: Dr. Dave Ojika
Flapmax is building a distributed, energy-efficient compute network across Africa that includes datacenters, hybrid quantum-classical compute clusters and multilingual African foundation models called AfricaLM.
The company works with Microsoft, AMD, IBM, Intel, Dell and HPE, and collaborates with governments developing national AI strategies. Its sovereign datacenter rollout starts in Ghana, then expands to East and North Africa. By 2030, Flapmax plans to deploy a space-augmented compute fabric connecting universities, governments and industry. Its work supports African language AI, renewable energy integration and full sovereignty for national AI systems.
EverseTech
Founder: Michael Michie
EverseTech brings AI-as-a-Service to African enterprises through locally hosted, end-to-end solutions. Its model reduces upfront costs by allowing clients to pay only for what they use.
EverseTech provides GPU access, model hosting and technical teams that help organizations build and maintain AI systems. The company already has seven active proof-of-concept projects and has deployed more than 1.1 TB of GPUs. EverseTech is seeking 30 high-end GPUs or 400,000 euros in funding to scale operations and respond to growing demand. Its work makes AI adoption simple, accessible and cost-effective for African businesses.
Amini AI
Amini is the first AI-native infrastructure company in Africa, building sovereign, distributed systems that allow countries to control their own data and run AI workloads locally. The company acts as a partner to governments by offering full deployment support, upskilling and long-term capability building.
Amini’s mission is to connect three billion people to the digital economy. Through this programme, the company aims to strengthen partnerships, refine its scale strategy and position itself as a leader in sovereign AI for the Global South.
AI Grid Sol
Founders: Abdelwahab Heba and Anouar Zemouri
AI Grid Sol is creating a sovereign GPU cloud infrastructure for North Africa and beyond. The platform will serve Africa, Europe and the Middle East, offering affordable and scalable AI compute.
The founders bring deep experience in AI speech science, SCADA systems and ecosystem development. The company is also developing an open and sovereign LLM platform for Africa. It seeks partnerships in policy enablement, cross-border infrastructure, investment and university collaboration to scale rapidly.
Africa Compute Fund (ACF)
Founder: Ian Wambai
Africa Compute Fund is building a sovereign, GPU-powered compute network designed to support startups, governments, enterprises and researchers. Its Monarch platform enables customers to train and deploy models at lower cost than global hyperscalers.
ACF already provides GPU access in more than 20 African countries and is expanding major GPU superclusters in Nairobi, Nigeria and South Africa. Through this programme, ACF aims to deepen partnerships with governments, regulators and development banks to build the frameworks needed for Africa’s long-term AI infrastructure.
Africa Climate and Energy Nexus (AfCEN)
Founder: Joseph Nganga
AfCEN is Africa’s first integrated AI-first platform linking renewable energy systems, climate finance and digital infrastructure. The company identifies ideal sites for green data corridors, renewable-powered data centers and compute hubs that protect African data sovereignty.
It works closely with governments, DFIs and regional blocs to design climate-smart, AI-ready country platforms. Key initiatives include the Lobito Corridor and a programme with African Ministers of Finance to support national green compute systems. AfCEN’s work shows how clean energy and digital transformation can advance together to support inclusive, climate-aligned development.
A New Foundation for Africa’s Digital Future
The ten selected ventures of the AI Infrastructure Builder Programme represent a major shift in Africa’s digital trajectory. They are building data centers, compute networks, training systems and sovereign AI platforms that will reshape how the continent participates in the global digital economy. Their work will unlock lower costs, stronger research capacity, sovereign digital control and new pathways for startups and governments. The AI Hub for Sustainable Development has given them a platform but their impact will be felt across industries, borders and generations. Africa is not waiting to be invited into the future. It is building the future at home.
