Econet Wireless has launched a dedicated artificial intelligence unit, Econet AI, giving local companies access to computing power previously out of reach due to high costs and limited infrastructure.
Econet AI will roll out Cassava AiCloud, a platform that allows Zimbabwean enterprises to run data-intensive workloads using high-performance computing powered by NVIDIA GPUs. The infrastructure is hosted at the Cassava AI Factory in South Africa, currently the only facility of its kind on the continent, enabling firms to deploy AI tools without building their own systems. For businesses, this could translate into faster product development, automation of routine processes, and improved decision-making across sectors such as finance, agriculture, mining and retail.
Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, Tatenda Mavetera, said AI is now central to economic development and aligns with her ministry’s recently launched AI policy.
“Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept – it is a present-day driver of economic growth, efficiency and innovation,” Mavetera said.
Hardy Pemhiwa, President and CEO of Cassava Technologies, described artificial intelligence as a structural shift that will reshape industries and competitiveness.
“Artificial intelligence is not an incremental improvement – it is a structural shift,” he said. “Countries that respond to structural change with operational fixes will fall behind. Zimbabwe has made a deliberate and bold decision to lead, not follow.”
Pemhiwa said the country’s National AI Strategy provides a framework for growth and governance, and pointed to Cassava’s infrastructure as enabling local access to advanced computing capacity.
Econet Group CEO Douglas Mboweni has said the launch marks a move from experimentation to commercial deployment, with Econet positioning itself as a technology partner for firms looking to modernise operations. “We are now ready to take these solutions to the market and share capabilities drawn from some of the best technology companies in the world,” he said.
Navdeep Kapur, Econet AI CEO, said the unit will focus on scalable AI systems tailored to African markets.
“Our vision is to build AI that is not only powerful, but relevant to African contexts,” Kapur said.
“By bringing compute infrastructure closer to home, we are enabling businesses and institutions to innovate faster, more securely and more effectively.”
He cited applications such as network optimisation and sector-specific tools for agriculture, banking, healthcare and government services.
Econet Deputy CEO Roy Chimanikire said the company is targeting practical use cases already being deployed. “We are building Zimbabwean solutions, powered by world-class AI capabilities,” he said. “With the infrastructure now in place, we can ensure that our data remains local and is used to solve local challenges.”
He pointed to examples including fraud detection in finance, precision farming in agriculture, predictive maintenance in mining, and diagnostics in healthcare. Chimanikire also stressed governance risks as adoption scales. “Transparency, accountability, fairness and data privacy must remain at the core of everything we build,” he said.
“We have moved from policy to execution. The technology is here, it is operational, and it is accessible. The opportunity is immediate – and the time to act is now.”
