Strategic Vision & Purpose
PhotonAI has a long-term ambition to establish Africa-based AI compute infrastructure that reflects African values, supports sovereign supply chains, and builds continental innovation capability. Over the next decade, PhotonAI seeks to deploy significant compute capacity across Africa, including data centre construction, AI model training infrastructure, and continental inference network operations.
This RFP seeks strategic partners who can scale advanced manufacturing, construction, and operations in support of PhotonAI's data centre programme across Africa — aligned with long-term African industrial development goals and PhotonAI's commercial roadmap.
PhotonAI's Phase 1 programme targets four data centres in Mauritius, Kenya, Uganda, and Morocco — the first sovereign AI compute network built for and by Africa. These are not national infrastructure projects. They are continental infrastructure, serving all 54 African nations equally, owned under African jurisdiction, powered where possible by African energy, and structurally integrated with Boom Technologies' pan-African payments infrastructure.
Africa has 1.5 billion people, the world's youngest population (median age 19), and is on track to double to 3 billion within 25 years — the sole engine of global human capital growth. Every AI system Africa's population uses today is foreign-built, foreign-trained, and foreign-priced. PhotonAI changes this. Partners who help build this infrastructure are participating in one of the most consequential infrastructure programmes of the century.
Scope of Proposals
PhotonAI is soliciting proposals across the full data centre infrastructure stack. Partners may bid on one or more categories. A "Project" may consist of any combination of land, power, site design, shell construction, mechanical and electrical fit-out, compute hardware, or software. Preferred partners will be identified independently per category.
Partners are invited to propose for manufacturing, supply, construction, and/or operational services across the following areas:
Data Centre Infrastructure
AI Compute Hardware
Renewable Energy & Power
Software & Operations
Component Categories — Detail
Design-build or EPC construction of purpose-built data centre facilities. Each site must achieve Tier III equivalent uptime. Proposals should include tropical and equatorial climate engineering capability, site logistics plans for remote African locations, and modular designs that enable rapid scale-up from Phase 1 (1–5 MW) to Phase 2 (20 MW). Demonstrated Africa or emerging market construction experience preferred.
High-density AI compute accelerators for training and inference. PhotonAI is evaluating NVIDIA H100/H200/B200, AMD Instinct MI300X, Intel Gaudi 3, and equivalent solutions. Proposals must include: per-unit and volume pricing, delivery timelines to African ports (Mombasa, Mauritius, Casablanca, Mombasa/Dar), warranty, support and RMA terms, and firm availability commitments. Proposals for multi-year supply agreements are preferred.
Precision cooling for high-density AI compute at 30–50 kW per rack and above. Proposals must address climate conditions at each site. Equatorial Guinea and Kampala (Uganda) require cooling systems rated for high ambient humidity. Mauritius and Morocco require systems tolerant of coastal salt air. Proposals should include both air-based (CRAC/CRAH) and direct liquid cooling (CDUs, RDHX, cold plates) with PUE target ≤1.35. Free cooling and adiabatic options are of particular interest for Moroccan and Mauritius sites.
Full power infrastructure including HV/MV transformers, ATS/STS, 2N UPS, smart PDUs, busway, and N+1 diesel generator backup. Proposals should also include proposals for BESS integration and microgrid-capable systems. PhotonAI's target is to operate data centres with 60%+ renewable energy by 2030. Proposals that integrate renewable energy with conventional backup power are strongly preferred. Specify delivery terms to each port of entry.
On-site or co-located renewable generation for each data centre site. Morocco (solar), Mauritius (solar + wind), Kenya (geothermal + solar), Uganda (hydro + solar). Proposals for Power Purchase Agreements with local African renewable energy generators are actively sought. PhotonAI will prioritise proposals that demonstrate genuine local energy market knowledge and existing relationships with African utilities and IPPs.
High-speed intra-DC networking and inter-site WAN. PhotonAI requires InfiniBand NDR or 400GbE spine-leaf topologies for AI compute clusters. For inter-site connectivity, proposals for DWDM or dark fibre between the four Phase 1 sites are sought. Integration with undersea cable landing stations is of particular interest: PEACE and EASSy for Mombasa; SAFE and SEACOM for Mauritius; AAE-1 and SMW5 for Casablanca. Proposals should specify at least 2 diverse fibre paths per site.
Platforms for physical infrastructure management (power, cooling, capacity — DCIM), AI workload orchestration (Kubernetes-native, GPU scheduling), and MLOps tooling (training pipeline management, model registry, inference deployment). Open-source and commercial proposals are both evaluated. Proposals should include SaaS, on-premises, and hybrid deployment options appropriate for data sovereign environments. Integration with Boom Technologies' payment rails for metered billing is a requirement.
Project Description Requirements
Proposals must provide a detailed description of the data centre project, including design, scale, and technological capabilities. Responses should address all four Phase 1 sites (Mauritius, Kenya, Uganda, Morocco) or clearly indicate which sites are covered. The following minimum technical specifications apply to each site:
Proposals should also specify the projected power load ramp schedule — specifically: power available at Q1 2027 (cloud-hosted), power available at Q1 2028 (Phase 1 DC activation for Uganda and Mauritius), and full Phase 1 build-out completion by Q4 2028 (Morocco and Kenya).
Site & Location
For each Phase 1 site (or subset of sites covered by the proposal), respondents must identify the proposed location and address the following:
Location Factors
Proximity to power infrastructure, fibre networks, and water supply. Accessibility and ease of logistics for major construction — road, port, and air cargo access. Specific geographical and topological features (flood zone, seismic, coastal). Evidence of strong community, municipal, and national government engagement. Availability of skilled construction and operational workforce locally and regionally.
Site-Specific Considerations
Power & Energy
Proposals must detail power access, energy composition, and environmental management for each site. PhotonAI views energy sovereignty as inseparable from AI sovereignty. Proposals that meaningfully engage with African energy markets — rather than simply importing solutions — will be scored higher.
Power Access & Ramp
Provide a clear power ramp schedule and maximum power availability. Demonstrate utility partnerships for power enablement, both as a power consumer and as a potential interconnect partner. Include evidence of utility relationships or regulatory engagement in each target country.
Energy Composition
Articulate the projected energy tariff structure and power composition. Include projected renewable energy percentage at Phase 1 activation (2028) and at 5-year maturity (2030). Address effluent streams: carbon emissions (Scope 1 and 2), heat generation and rejection strategy, water consumption and treatment, and electronic waste management.
Power Innovation
Proposals should identify any innovative approaches to power delivery, including microgrids, battery storage, on-site generation, or novel utility partnership structures that strengthen PhotonAI's long-term energy resilience and cost position in each market.
Reliability Requirements
Provide a Tier I–Tier IV rating and full reliability description. Address the following in detail:
Ownership & Operational Model
Clearly outline the proposed ownership structure and operational model for each element of the project. PhotonAI is open to multiple commercial structures and will evaluate each on its strategic and financial merits.
Ownership Structure
Articulate the proposed ownership model — private supply, joint venture, co-investment, or public-private partnership — for each of: (a) land, (b) power infrastructure, (c) substation, (d) data hall shell, (e) mechanical and electrical infrastructure, (f) compute assets (hardware).
Build vs. Operate Model
Specify whether the proposal covers design-build only, build-operate-transfer (BOT), or a full design-build-operate (DBO) model. Proposals for full Data Centre as a Service (DCaaS) will also be considered. Clearly identify: the proposed build model (EPC, GC) for PhotonAI's engagement; the proposed operating model for IT provisioning and data centre operations post-handover.
Local Economic Participation
Describe in-country workforce plans, local subcontracting strategy, and training and skills transfer commitments for each site nation. Proposals must demonstrate a credible plan for building lasting local capability, not extractive delivery. PhotonAI will give preferential weighting to proposals with meaningful African participation at all levels.
Risk Mitigation
Regulatory & Permitting
Outline strategies for securing land easements, environmental permits, and major construction approvals in Mauritius, Kenya, Uganda, and Morocco. Include a timeline and plans for engaging regulatory bodies. Demonstrate experience with African regulatory environments and identify any known permitting risks with mitigation pathways.
Build Viability & Supply Readiness
Address build and workforce challenges specific to African construction environments. Include: recruitment strategies for construction and operations staff; existing relationships with African labour or staffing organisations; skilled workforce availability through local partners or vendors; and partnerships with African educational and technical training institutions.
Outline plans to address speed-to-deployment challenges across the supply chain, including: examples of de-risking long-lead-time equipment (GPUs, transformers, UPS); design or site features that mitigate equipment availability risks; and contingency plans for geopolitical or logistics disruption affecting import of hardware into African ports.
Infrastructure Dependencies
Address coordination requirements for: Power — utility provider timelines, grid upgrade requirements, new generation timelines and ramp schedules; Fibre — at least 2 diverse fibre suppliers per site, construction and connection timelines; Water — site access, on-site treatment and recycling approach; Site Services — logistics support, vendor ecosystem, and operational services post-handover.
Geopolitical & Currency Risk
Given the multi-country African programme, proposals should address currency risk management, import duty and tariff strategies, and any known geopolitical risks in each target country. Proposals that demonstrate local sourcing, regional manufacturing, or other Africa-first supply chain strategies will be viewed favourably.
Commercial Model
Proposals must include information and benchmarks enabling PhotonAI to model Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for each site over a 10-year programme. Financial projections should be modelled in USD or EUR.
CapEx Estimates
OpEx Estimates (Annual)
Financial Incentives
Identify applicable government grants, tax credits, investment zone benefits, duty exemptions, and other financial support available in Mauritius, Kenya, Uganda, and Morocco. Include strategies for maximising these incentives to enhance project feasibility. PhotonAI will prioritise proposals that demonstrate active engagement with local investment promotion agencies.
Innovation
PhotonAI expects its infrastructure partners to be technologically ambitious. Proposals should identify any innovative approaches — in design, construction, operations, or sustainability — that distinguish this proposal from industry norms.
Of particular interest: automation in the construction process itself (not just the product); AI-driven facility management and predictive maintenance; novel cooling architectures suited to African climates; modular or containerised data hall designs for rapid deployment; and integration innovations with Boom Technologies' payment and settlement infrastructure for real-time infrastructure cost metering.
Proposals should also articulate how the supplier's technology roadmap aligns with PhotonAI's 10-year vision — including next-generation GPU generations, liquid cooling evolution, and the emerging orbital edge compute layer via PhotonAI's NiO (Nodes-in-Orbit) Spaceport programme.
Evaluation Criteria
Initial proposals will be evaluated on the following weighted criteria. Shortlisted partners per category will be invited to submit full detailed proposals with additional specifications. PhotonAI will evaluate proposals on an ongoing basis.
PhotonAI reserves the right to negotiate with multiple partners per category and is not obligated to accept the highest-scoring proposal. PhotonAI may decline all proposals in any category without reason. Participation in this RFP does not limit PhotonAI's ability to pursue similar projects based on independently developed or publicly available information.
Timeline & Process
PhotonAI will evaluate proposals on an ongoing basis. Proposals received before key dates below will receive priority consideration. We anticipate commencing strategic partnerships before all deadlines below.
Submission Requirements
Initial proposals must be 25 pages maximum, submitted as a single PDF. Supporting appendices (datasheets, financials, references) may be included as a separate ZIP archive. Proposals may cover one or more categories; a separate response document per category is preferred.
Required Sections (Initial Proposal)
Executive Summary (1 page maximum). Top-level features including: category or categories covered; sites covered; maximum IT load capacity per site; power available by Q1 2028; projected IT workload availability by Q1 2028; examples of comparable previous projects.
Company Overview. Corporate background, ownership, annual revenue, years in operation, Africa presence, and track record of comparable projects in emerging markets.
Technical Proposal. Detailed response to specifications in Sections 03–07 for each category bid. Include product datasheets, architecture diagrams, and performance benchmarks.
Project Deployment Plan. Timeline addressing Sections 04–05. Include preliminary site design (where applicable), suggested project vendor plan, and draft deployment milestones — specifically: permitting, civil, structural, equipment delivery, mechanical and electrical commissioning, IT provisioning, and data hall handover for each site.
Ownership & Operational Model. Response to Section 08 — proposed ownership structure and build-vs-operate model.
Commercial Model. CapEx and OpEx benchmarks per Section 10. Ownership structure. Incentives identified.
Risk Mitigation. Risk register covering regulatory, build, environmental, supply chain, and workforce risks per Section 09. Include anticipated mitigation pathways and timeline impact estimates.
Innovation & Sustainability. Response to Section 11. Any design, construction, or operational features unique to this proposal.
Financial Stability. Audited accounts (most recent 2 years) or equivalent evidence of financial capacity to fulfil the contract.
Submission Instructions
Submit all proposals electronically to rfp@photonai.ai with the subject line:
RFP-2026-001 · [Category A/B/C/etc.] · [Company Name]
Maximum submission: 25 pages (PDF) + appendix ZIP (50 MB max). Proposals submitted after 17:00 CET on 6 July 2026 will not be considered. To register interest and receive Q&A updates, email rfp@photonai.ai with subject REGISTER: RFP-2026-001 before 15 June 2026.
All costs incurred in preparing a response are the responsibility of the submitting firm. This RFP does not constitute a commitment by PhotonAI to enter any contract. PhotonAI will take every effort to protect the confidentiality of all proposals received. Participation does not limit PhotonAI's ability to pursue similar projects based on independently developed information.
Contact
All enquiries must be submitted in writing to the relevant contact below. Verbal enquiries will not be accepted and attempts to contact PhotonAI personnel outside the formal RFP process may result in disqualification.
We look forward to receiving your proposals and partnering to build the most consequential AI infrastructure programme in Africa's history.
The PhotonAI Infrastructure Team
8 June 2026