STANLIB Infrastructure Investments has entered a strategic partnership with Cassava Technologies to accelerate the build-out of AI-ready data centers in South Africa. The collaboration centers on Africa Data Centres campuses in Johannesburg and Cape Town, aligning capital with surging demand for secure, high-capacity digital infrastructure. It signals fresh momentum behind South Africa’s cloud and connectivity backbone as enterprises and hyperscalers scale across the region.
Partnership Overview
Under the agreement, STANLIB will deploy institutional capital to expand Africa Data Centres’ footprint and capabilities. The program is designed to enhance power, cooling, and interconnection density that modern AI and cloud workloads require. It also strengthens Africa Data Centres’ position within Cassava Technologies’ vertically integrated digital ecosystem.
Strategic Rationale
STANLIB frames data centers as essential infrastructure for a modern economy, on par with power and transport assets. By channeling savings pools into digital platforms, the firm aims to support productivity gains while generating competitive, risk-adjusted returns for investors. Cassava sees the partnership as validation of its operating foundation in South Africa, enabling it to deliver scale for hyperscalers and large enterprises.
Capacity and Market Demand
Africa Data Centres currently operates seven facilities across the continent, serving more than 400 enterprise and hyperscale customers. The new investment is targeted at expanding capacity and resilience in Johannesburg and Cape Town to meet rising compute, storage, and AI inference needs. Carrier- and cloud-neutral design remains a core principle, supporting open interconnection and rapid time to service.
Investment Approach and ESG
STANLIB’s infrastructure funds, with equity investments exceeding R14 billion, prioritize renewable energy and digital infrastructure opportunities. Environmental, social, and governance principles are integrated across deployments to support long-term value creation for investors and the broader economy. This policy framework aims to balance energy intensity considerations with efficiency improvements and grid-supportive design in data center growth.
Company Context
STANLIB Asset Management manages more than R550 billion in assets as of December 2024, operating as the institutional asset manager within Standard Bank Group’s Investment and Asset Management unit. Its platform spans fixed income, multi-asset, listed property, equity, and alternatives, complemented by partnerships that broaden global insights and strategies. The infrastructure arm leverages this platform to mobilize capital into scalable, sustainable real-asset opportunities.
Cassava and Africa Data Centres
Cassava Technologies, headquartered in the United Kingdom, delivers an integrated stack through business units including Cassava AI, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Liquid C2, Africa Data Centres, and Sasai Fintech. The company provides products and services in 94 countries, linking connectivity, cloud, data center, and digital services for enterprise customers. Within this portfolio, Africa Data Centres operates the continent’s largest network of interconnected, carrier- and cloud-neutral facilities across South, East, and West Africa.
The STANLIB–Cassava partnership concentrates institutional capital on South Africa’s most pressing digital bottlenecks, with AI-ready capacity as a central objective. By coupling a scaled operator with a long-term infrastructure investor, the initiative aims to unlock growth for hyperscalers and enterprises while adhering to clear ESG guardrails. If executed as outlined, it will reinforce South Africa’s digital backbone and set a template for high-impact data center investment across the continent.