The US is making an aggressive play for Africa’s data center market, engineering a wave of public-private partnerships aimed at planting American digital infrastructure across the continent. The effort pits Washington directly against Beijing in what amounts to a high-stakes geopolitical chess match, with computing power and energy access as the pieces on the board.

What’s actually on the table

The headline number is $26 billion in deals facilitated through Trump administration partnerships with US companies. While the full scope of that figure is difficult to independently verify across individual projects, several major initiatives are already well underway.

Microsoft and UAE-based G42 are building a $1 billion geothermal-powered AI data center in Kenya, with operations expected to come online by May 2026. The geothermal angle is notable: Kenya sits on the East African Rift, one of the planet’s most potent geothermal energy sources, giving it a natural advantage for power-hungry computing facilities.

Cassava Technologies, meanwhile, has committed up to $720 million for AI data centers integrating Nvidia technology. The first phase, featuring 3,000 GPUs, is set to launch in South Africa and then expand to Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and Morocco. That rollout began in March 2025.

Africa currently accounts for less than 1% of global data center capacity, but that number is projected to reach 1.2 GW by 2030, roughly tripling from current levels. The US holds approximately 45% of global data center capacity today.

The US-China dimension

China has been busy. Beijing has forged agreements with 52 African nations and has plans for 20 digital infrastructure projects between 2025 and 2027. Chinese companies like Huawei have been laying fiber optic cables and building telecom networks across the continent for years, giving them a significant head start in some markets.

The US strategy appears to be countering with premium offerings: AI-ready facilities, partnerships with blue-chip American tech firms, and renewable energy integration. The geothermal angle in Kenya and the broader emphasis on sustainable power sources are deliberate differentiators from China’s approach, which has drawn criticism for relying more heavily on fossil fuels.

Why crypto investors should be paying attention

Data centers and crypto mining operations compete for the same scarce resource, cheap electricity. As the US clamps down on domestic data center energy consumption, the resulting infrastructure squeeze has already been pushing miners to look abroad. Africa’s expanding energy infrastructure, particularly its renewable sources like geothermal and solar, could eventually become attractive for mining operations looking for affordable, stable power.

The GPU angle matters too. Cassava’s deal involves 3,000 Nvidia GPUs in its first phase alone. These are the same chips that power AI training and, in some configurations, can be repurposed for crypto-adjacent computing tasks.

There’s also the DePIN connection. Decentralized physical infrastructure networks are designed to create distributed alternatives to exactly the kind of centralized data center buildout happening in Africa. Projects like Filecoin, Akash Network, and Render are betting that decentralized compute and storage will eventually compete with traditional cloud infrastructure.

Africa already leads the world in peer-to-peer crypto trading volume relative to GDP in several countries, and better digital infrastructure could accelerate that trend considerably.