The sovereign AI data centre Vodafone Egypt plans to build with Elsewedy Electric and Cassava Technologies will cost about US$1-billion (R16.4-billion) over the next couple of years, Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub said, and Vodacom-controlled Vodafone Egypt will own about 30% of it.
Vodacom disclosed the joint venture in its interim results on Tuesday, describing the project as Egypt’s largest data centre and its first sovereign AI data centre. But it gave no investment amount, stake or timeline.
Joosub filled in some of the gaps in an interview with TechCentral on Tuesday. The $1-billion is the total cost of the project, not Vodafone Egypt’s share, and it won’t all be spent upfront. The facility will be built in modules, with capacity added as demand materialises. “The number is big, but it won’t be $1-billion immediately,” he said. “You roll it out as you need to.”
Vodacom controls Vodafone Egypt, which is now one of the group’s biggest growth engines. Its service revenue rose 36.3% in local currency in the six months to 30 September, and it contributed 24.8% of group service revenue and R11-billion of group Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation).
The number is big, but it won’t be $1-billion immediately. You roll it out as you need to.
Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub
Egypt is the first of what Joosub sees as three regional AI data centre hubs. “Ideally, we look at South Africa, Kenya and Egypt as the three big markets,” he said, with smaller data centres in Vodacom’s other markets.
Planning for South Africa and Kenya is “still very early”. Vodacom already runs data centres in its markets, but they were not built for hyperscalers, the big cloud and AI providers, Joosub said. Any new builds would follow the Egyptian model: secure the property, then build in stages as demand grows. “Most important is to make sure you’ve got the power.”
He wants partners to share the cost and bring expertise, as Vodacom has done in Egypt and did in Ethiopia, which it entered as part of a Safaricom-led consortium.
Cassava, founded by Zimbabwean telecoms entrepreneur Strive Masiyiwa, said in April 2025 that it planned to build what it called Africa’s first AI factory with Nvidia, and named Egypt as one of five countries for the roll-out. Elsewedy Electric is an Egyptian cables, electrical equipment and energy infrastructure group.
No big deals
The reliance on partners comes as Vodacom’s balance sheet absorbs the Safaricom deal. Vodacom’s net debt rose by R78.8-billion to R135.6-billion in the year to September, and Joosub said the group is “not looking at anything” major in terms of mergers and acquisitions.
Any deals would be smaller ones, possibly in financial services, he said. For infrastructure such as fibre, towers and data centres, Vodacom is looking at “more co-builds going forward, so off-balance-sheet-type stuff”, bringing in partners “because we just don’t have the money to do everything”. — (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media
