Udu Technologies, a Nigerian technology startup, is challenging the high cost of foreign AI computing with a GPU cloud platform offering access to specialised computing power for less than $1 an hour.
The company’s Africa GPU Hub, launched through its AGHCloud.ai platform, is designed to give African developers, businesses and governments access to the computing infrastructure needed to train and run artificial intelligence models without building their own GPU facilities.
Graphics processing units (GPUs) are critical to AI workloads, including training large language models and running complex applications. However, access to high-performance GPUs remains limited and costly across many African markets.
Udu said its platform provides pre-configured GPU environments with tools such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, vLLM and LoRA, allowing users to start AI workloads without the time and capital required to establish dedicated infrastructure.
“For organisations, this can significantly reduce the technical and financial barriers associated with accessing high-performance computing,” said Alexander Tsado, chief executive officer of Udu Technologies told BusinessDay.
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The company is also building physical GPU capacity within Africa. It said it has deployed NVIDIA H100 and Blackwell Pro 6000 GPU clusters across Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo and Zambia.
This gives Udu infrastructure across seven African countries as it seeks to bring AI computing closer to users and data on the continent.
Oluwafunmilayo Olumoko, head of customer success at Udu Technologies, said the regional infrastructure could support data residency requirements and the development of sovereign AI infrastructure.
The company is also targeting the cost of running AI applications after development. Udu said its dedicated GPU virtual machines and optimised open-source large language models can deliver up to 60 percent savings in token costs.
Udu said the Africa GPU Hub has already served 2,000 developers and supports more than 30 government AI use cases in areas including agriculture, customs, digital public infrastructure, mining and education.
The startup is also using its partnership with Alliance4AI, an AI ecosystem organisation, to support skills development alongside access to computing infrastructure.
Udu said improving access to GPUs without developing the skills to use them would not be enough to expand AI adoption in Africa.
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The company’s launch comes as African organisations seek greater access to AI infrastructure while governments and businesses increasingly focus on where their data is processed and stored.
By combining sub-$1 GPU access with infrastructure deployed within African markets, Udu is positioning its platform as an alternative for organisations that currently depend on external computing resources for AI workloads.
Royal Ibeh is a senior journalist with years of experience reporting on Nigeria’s technology and health sectors. She currently covers the Technology and Health beats for BusinessDay newspaper, where she writes in-depth stories on digital innovation, telecom infrastructure, healthcare systems, and public health policies.
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