Amini, a sovereign AI infrastructure company, has entered into a strategic partnership alongside Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), the electronics manufacturer, and Bull, provider of high-performance computing, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. The partnership aims to close the sovereign compute gap across Africa and the Global South, giving governments, telecom operators, financial institutions and energy companies direct access to industrial-grade AI data centre infrastructure they can acquire, install and operate locally.
The partnership marks Foxconn’s first dedicated infrastructure initiative focused on African markets and establishes Amini as its strategic partner across Africa and other emerging economies.
Amini operates one of Africa’s leading platforms for locally anchored compute and data capacity, working across multiple markets with governments and enterprises to strengthen domestic AI infrastructure.
Foxconn is the world’s largest AI server provider with its technology-intensive hardware underpinning the global AI economy, including advanced computing systems, server architecture, and modular data centre technologies used by the world’s leading firms. Through the partnership, these systems are made accessible to African and Global South institutions in configurations designed for local operating conditions and regulatory environments.
The partnership is supported by French-government owned Bull as it builds on its existing collaboration with Amini to support sovereign AI infrastructure projects. Committed to fostering local ecosystems and regionalized AI, Bull brings additional systems integration capabilities with a longstanding experience covering the full spectrum of high-performance and artificial intelligence, from systems and components to platforms and use cases.
The announcement was made at the Africa Forward Summit, hosted in Nairobi on 11–12 May 2026, a high-level convening of heads of state, business leaders, and global institutions advancing Africa’s strategic position in the digital economy.
Speaking at the opening of the Africa Forward Summit on Monday 11 May, Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic of France, said: “[…] this partnership between Amini, Bull and Foxconn for me is a perfect example of this common sovereignty story: African, European and Taiwanese companies. All of us have to face this challenge of sovereignty and reducing our dependencies.”
The market opportunity
The partnership arrives at a defining moment for the global digital economy. Africa’s digital economy is projected to reach USD 1.5 trillion by 2030. Across the Global South, the trillion-dollar demand for AI-enabled services in finance, energy, public administration, and connectivity is materialising faster than the sovereign infrastructure required to serve it. Without locally anchored compute, that demand will be met by external providers, and the economic value it generates will flow outward.
Africa’s data centre market is projected to nearly double from USD 3.49 billion in 2024 to USD 6.81 billion by 2030, with installed capacity expected to triple to more than 3,460 megawatts over the same period. The continent’s AI and cloud infrastructure remains concentrated in the hands of a small number of operators. The Amini-Foxconn-Bull partnership signals a shift toward locally anchored, sovereign-aligned AI infrastructure and compute capacity built for African and Global South markets.
The downstream implications are substantial. Locally anchored compute creates skilled employment, strengthens regional technology ecosystems, and retains economic value within domestic markets. Industry estimates place Africa’s AI and data infrastructure value chain at between USD 20 billion and USD 30 billion in revenue by 2030, a figure that compounds significantly when paired with productivity gains across finance, energy, public services, and trade.
Built for African realities: why modular
Traditional hyperscale data centres depend on stable grids, multi-year construction timelines, and capital expenditure profiles that exclude most African and Global South stakeholders.
The modular AI data centre infrastructure provided through the Amini-Foxconn-Bull partnership is engineered for these realities. Systems operate in variable power environments, can be deployed in under 12 months, and scale incrementally with offtake demand. Institutions acquire the capacity they require today and expand over time, in line with usage, and without the cost structure and timeline complexity of conventional builds. Each configuration is designed for full data sovereignty, with data remaining in-country under domestic regulation.
Sovereign capability across the sectors driving African economies
The partnership opens sovereign AI infrastructure to the institutions that anchor national economic activity. Energy and utilities can apply AI to grid optimisation and predictive maintenance. Banks and financial institutions can build risk, credit, and financial inclusion systems independent of external platform dependencies. Telecom operators can run edge AI and network intelligence at scale. In each case, the underlying capability, compute, data, and governance, remains domestically held.
For Amini, the partnership is a structural step toward redistributing how AI capability is built and held globally. “AI is becoming foundational infrastructure for every economy, yet most of the world still lacks the compute capacity required to participate on its own terms,” said Kate Kallot, Founder and CEO of Amini. “This partnership ensures that Africa and the Global South can acquire, own, and operate AI infrastructure locally, with sovereignty and long-term economic value at its core. The trillion-dollar demand for AI services across our markets will be met. The question is whether the infrastructure beneath it is held with us, or for us.”
For Foxconn, the initiative reflects a deliberate expansion into markets where industrial-scale AI infrastructure has historically been absent. “Africa’s participation in the AI economy depends on infrastructure designed for its conditions, not adapted from elsewhere,” said Jesse Chao, Head of AI & Quantum at Foxconn, during the Africa Forward Summit. “This partnership brings Foxconn’s global capabilities into a market model built for sovereign ownership and long-term operational viability.”
For Bull, the collaboration extends a longstanding commitment to sovereign digital capacity in emerging markets. “Africa and more generally the Global South have the potential to emerge as a global-scale AI hub, by continuing to build regional computing capacity and supply chain independence. Bull is proud, through its partnership with Amini and Foxconn, to be a part of this journey, to develop a sovereign AI infrastructure.” said Alexandre Jouys, Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa, at Bull. “Our joint solution with Amini reflects a shared conviction that durable digital capacity must be built with the institutions it serves, not delivered to them.”
