Zimbabwean billionaire and founder of Cassava Technologies, Strive Masiyiwa, who just announced a partnership with Nvidia to launch Project Mufungi, Africa’s first AI factory, has said the idea was inspired by Nigeria’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Masiyiwa shared this in a lengthy Facebook post on Monday, detailing how a conversation with Dangote and Obasanjo seven years ago in Singapore pushed him to take on ambitious projects that would transform Africa’s technological landscape.
“I will never forget the day seven years ago when I had coffee with my friend Aliko Dangote and our ‘Baba’ [as we call former President Obasanjo] at an event in Singapore,” Masiyiwa recalled. “Baba challenged us both that day to ‘do bigger things for Africa… stuff you guys can now do!’”