Vodafone Business, Elsewedy Electric, and Cassava Technologies Launch $1B Data Center and Sovereign AI Hub in Egypt
Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Eng. Raafat Hendy, oversaw the official signing and launch of new strategic partnerships between Vodafone Business, Elsewedy Electric, and Cassava Technologies. The collaboration establishes "Africa Data Centres Egypt" to construct one of the largest carrier-neutral data center facilities in the country, alongside the deployment of Egypt’s first sovereign artificial intelligence data center.
The initiatives are designed to reinforce Egypt's digital infrastructure, localize advanced technologies, and expand domestic hosting and high-performance compute capacity, consolidating the nation's strategic position as a regional hub for cloud services, data transit, and sovereign AI.
$200 Million Initial Phase in $1 Billion Investment Roadmap
Under the primary consortium agreement, Vodafone Business, Elsewedy Electric, and Cassava Technologies will establish "Africa Data Centres Egypt" built to international hyperscale specifications. The enterprise leverages Vodafone Business’s global cloud and enterprise capabilities, Elsewedy Electric’s EPC, power, and infrastructure execution, and Cassava Technologies’ operational track record across the African continent.
The data center will initially roll out with 20 megawatts (MW) of IT load capacity during its first three years, featuring an expansion roadmap scaling up to 200 MW to accommodate hyperscalers, global cloud providers, and enterprise tenants. The project is projected to attract approximately $200 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) during Phase 1, with cumulative capital expenditure targeted to reach $1 billion upon full capacity delivery. The facility is expected to generate 200 direct jobs and roughly 2,000 indirect employment opportunities, prioritizing local engineering and technical talent.
Egypt’s First Sovereign AI Data Center & GPU-as-a-Service
In parallel, a bilateral partnership between Vodafone Business and Cassava Technologies introduces dedicated sovereign AI infrastructure to the Egyptian market. Powered by advanced high-performance computing clusters and NVIDIA technologies, the specialized center will deliver local "GPU-as-a-Service" (GPUaaS).
The infrastructure allows domestic enterprises, public sector entities, and startups to build, fine-tune, and deploy large-scale AI applications while ensuring all underlying datasets and processing operations remain hosted within Egyptian borders in full alignment with data sovereignty regulations and cybersecurity standards.
Comprehensive National Data Center Strategy
Minister Hendy highlighted that the venture underscores growing private sector confidence in Egypt's digital economy and marks a strategic shift from merely providing digital services toward building deep computing and hosting assets. He revealed that the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) is currently formulating an integrated National Data Center Strategy.
The upcoming national strategy will formalize long-term capacity requirements for state and economic sectors, establish competitive investment incentive packages for domestic and foreign capital, and modernize legislative and regulatory frameworks. It aims to accelerate digital transformation, cultivate specialized Egyptian talent in data center engineering, and safeguard digital sovereignty without compromising open integration with global tech ecosystems.