By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
Econet
InfraCo, the tower infrastructure subsidiary of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, has
becaome the first company in Africa to deploy an artificial intelligence (AI)
solution to manage fuel efficiency.
The
company reported a 30% reduction in its diesel costs after deploying an AI
platform that it developed in collaboration with sister company Cassava
Compute.
In his
statement accompanying the company’s recent half-year results, Econet InfraCo
Chairman Godfrey Gomwe highlighted the savings delivered by the AI Fuel Mode
solution.
“By
using AI to analyse how and when each diesel generator is deployed, we have
developed a fuel management system that has reduced our diesel costs by 30%.
This demonstrates the practical value of AI in improving operational efficiency
and managing one of our largest expenses,” Gomwe said.
The
savings come as conflict in the Middle East puts upward pressure on diesel
prices, increasing costs for businesses that rely on generators to maintain
uninterrupted operations.
According
to the company, AI Fuel Mode is the first solution of its kind deployed by a
tower operator globally. It was developed with Cassava Compute using its
NVIDIA-powered AI computing infrastructure in Cape Town, South Africa.
Mobile
operators across Africa rely heavily on diesel generators because of unreliable
grid electricity. The company estimates that more than 500 000 generators
support mobile network operations across the continent, making diesel a major
operating expense for tower infrastructure businesses.
Econet
InfraCo and Cassava Compute analysed generator deployment patterns and
developed an AI fuel management matrix to optimise their use and reduce diesel
expenditure.
Cassava
AI plans to make the platform available to other operators, with potential
applications in industries such as mining and manufacturing.
The
initiative comes as Cassava AI, working with NVIDIA, begins deploying a related
AI Energy Mode platform to help Econet Wireless optimise electricity usage
across its mobile network.
Both
platforms are expected to increase demand for GPU computing capacity at
Cassava’s AI factory.
