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Leveraging momentum for Africa’s Infrastructure development and regional integration to build sustainable and inclusive growth on the continent

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3 years ago

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infrastructure

The economy needs reliable infrastructure to connect supply chains and efficiently move goods and services across borders

CAIRO, Egypt, November 14, 2023/APO Group/ — 

Overview

Infrastructure development is an essential driver for progress on the African continent and has the potential to be an enabler of sustainable and inclusive economic growth. The economy needs reliable infrastructure to connect supply chains and efficiently move goods and services across borders.

The recent multifaceted crises, including climate-related issues, the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine have all strongly impacted the countries debt surge – slowing down the emergence of large infrastructure projects. Although the direct trade and financial linkages of Africa with Russia and Ukraine are small, the war has damaged the continent’s economies through higher commodity, food, and fuel prices as well as headline inflation. The recent political instability also threatens the appetite for foreign investments and commitment on high impact infrastructure projects.

Africa is projected to have the fastest urban growth rate in the world: by 2050, Africa’s cities will be home to an additional 950 million people according to the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). Much of this growth is taking place in small and medium-sized towns. Africa’s urban transition offers great opportunities, but it also poses significant challenges. Urban agglomerations are usually developing without the benefit of policies or investments appropriately able to meet these challenges.

Despite having contributed the least to global warming and having the lowest emissions, Africa faces exponential collateral damage, posing systemic risks to its economies, infrastructure investments, water and food systems, public health, agriculture, and livelihoods, threatening populations into higher levels of extreme poverty. Prioritizing structural transformation that is green, inclusive, and resilient will lay a foundation for resilience ahead of the next crisis. The continent is very diverse, composed of low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high-income countries. Taking advantage of rich natural resources, the continent has the potential to shape a new development path, maximising the potential of its resources and people.

Finally, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) currently under development will be the largest free trade area by the number of countries involved since the formation of the World Trade Organisation, given Africa’s current population of 1.4 billion people, which is expected to grow to 2.5 billion by 2050. Africa needs to produce goods and services for domestic consumption and global trade to achieve sustainable economic growth and improve living standards. One of the most prominent necessities on the continent currently, it cannot succeed without adequate high quality linking infrastructures. The continent still faces serious infrastructure gaps across all sectors, both in access and quality. Most countries lag significantly behind the rest of the world in terms of coverage of key infrastructures including transport, infrastructure, energy, water, ICT, affordable housing… A pipeline of potential projects exists but is slow on actualizing; and whilst funding is available, financial commitment and spend is lacking. Annually, there is a funding gap estimated at $100 billion for infrastructural development. 

Common vision and project preparedness are essential

In order to support infrastructure development, there is an indispensable need for government and multilateral banks to expand the flow of private sector financing into more commercially viable assets. Several projects fail to emerge due to weak feasibility study and business plans, delays in obtaining licenses, approvals and permits, inability to agree on risk allocation and to secure offtake agreements, and poor program delivery.

Individual efforts by African countries to develop infrastructure have faced significant funding deficits due to the high costs involved. As a key element of the Africa Union 2063 strategy, African countries, through the AU and regional economic communities, have adopted the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) to address these inadequacies and enhance connectivity. PIDA aims to spearhead physical infrastructure development in transport, energy, ICT, and transboundary water resources.

In the first 10-Year Implementation Report of PIDA that was published in September 2023, the first phase of the program over the period 2012 – 2020 indicates significant achievements, with the development of 16,066 km of roads, 4,077 km of railway lines, 7 GW of hydroelectricity power production, 3,506 km of transmission lines, 112,900 direct jobs and 49,400 indirect jobs.

Over the past 10 years, $82 billion has been invested, with $360 billion required to implement all PIDA projects by 2040. While substantial commitments have been made, including contributions from AU Member States, International Financial Institutions, and other sources, it is imperative to explore additional ways to mobilize the necessary resources (such as private capital commitments via PPPs, green bonds, and climate finance). Unlocking private sector investment is vital to reach the AU Agenda 2063 objectives. 

Local governments and regional multilateral institutions need to provide investors with a common vision locally and globally. To ensure that the money is spent where it is needed, and delivers high-quality infrastructure on time and on budget, governments and private sector players need to step up to prepare, plan, and manage projects with a new level of rigor and robustness.

Regional integration as a major driver for development

Regional integration is vitally important for sustainable development in Africa. For far too long, inadequate infrastructure has held the continent back from realising its full economic potential. Lack of access to reliable energy, poor transportation networks (road, rail, ports and airports), including underdeveloped digital connectivity, have stalled Africa’s participation in the global market and prevented citizens from accessing opportunities.

According to Julien Fouilliart, Africa Market Leader for Building & Infrastructure at Bureau Veritas, an independent entity and world leader in Testing, Inspection and Certification and present in 35 countries in Africa, “This is one of the secrets to success in creating a prosperous African continent. Regional integration, where we see the countries agreeing to co-operate and work closely together to achieve economic and political stability; wealth and peace are core drivers to development and sustainability for the continent. This in turn will create an appetite for intra-African trade and shines a light on the need for regulation of standards, maintenance of high-quality products and facilitates the need for local and international trade.”

Taking advantage of rich natural resources, the continent has the potential to shape a new development path, maximising the potential of its resources and people

Corridor development is thus an integral part of boosting intra-African trade and an essential element of regional integration. Beyond physically connecting geographies, corridors will enable vital socio-economic transformation. Rail development, the backbone of corridor development, is the long-term solution for regional integration and presents great advantages in terms of sustainability and safety – in comparison to alternative modes of transport. Nevertheless, it is certainly the infrastructure that requires the largest CAPEX investment and therefore needs strong planning, and critically, weighty financing.

The recent International Forum: Financing Rail projects in Africa organized by the International Union of Railways (UIC) held in October in Dakar has been opening the debate around key issues to see these main rail corridors emerge. The structuring of project financing and the emergence of a new legal framework to mitigate risk for investors are certainly valid approaches to explore. For example, The Luxembourg Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment is currently under discussion. When enforced, it will set up a new global legal regime that will make it easier and cheaper for the private sector to finance railway rolling stock. The Protocol aims to increase certainty and reduce risks in asset-based financing for the acquisition and use of railway rolling stock through a global legal framework providing international recognition and enforcement of creditors’ rights.

In addition, there is a real opportunity to use mega mining investments where rail is crucial for operations to develop new corridors. For example, the Simandou iron ore project that involves the construction of a 650km-long railway in Guinea will be a strong driver for socio-economic growth, and certainly a great chance to foster sustainable development, job creation, new local expertise development, social integration, and gender diversity. It is now imperative that local governments and all stakeholders obtain maximum benefit from the opportunity.

Finally, public and private authorities need to urgently address standardization across technology, operations and safety measures to reduce lead time at borders and fully exploit the infrastructure in the medium term. Regulatory compliance and consistency are crucial across economic corridors and need to align with global compliance.

Green finance as an opportunity for sustainable and resilient development

In response to the global climate crisis, green finance is the strategic approach to incorporate the financial sector in the transformation process towards low-carbon and resource-efficient economies. Various types of infrastructure from housing to transport, energy, telecom, or water must all carry green, smart and climate resilient as core requirements.

Infrastructure development should be environmentally sustainable and meet the needs of future generations. Policies and practices to promote sustainable development and climate change mitigation needs to be implemented. This will require the governments and private developers to build resilience into infrastructure projects in regions vulnerable to climate change or other environmental hazards, such as flooding or drought.

Long term sustainability versus “quick wins” can provide quite the dilemma on the African continent. The immediate need for results can be a strong motivating force at the expense of long-term sustainable infrastructure rollouts that will provide health and safety benefits for all, and in accordance with global standards and certifications.

The global green agenda is a unique opportunity to leverage funding for critical assets needed to be developed such as affordable housing. Affordable housing is one segment of the much-needed gap in infrastructure and is an area of huge foreseeable growth. Today, 54 million people live in impoverished areas and this number is due to double by 2030. More than 74% of the population lives on less than $2USD per day according to International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group). New development schemes and the need for financial institutions and investors to greenify their portfolio can be used to leverage funding.

The green building certification schemes have showed recently that they can be a useful tool for affordable housing development. For example, the government of Kenya has issued a decree that all affordable housing projects under the nation’s “Big 4” Agenda must meet the EDGE green buildings standard (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies). The government will provide developers with free land to build affordable housing projects that meet the government’s commitment to resource-efficient structures. The decree was enacted by Kenya’s State Department of Housing & Urban Development in the Ministry of Transport. The government targets to build at least 250,000 houses every year, for the next five years, a project that could see over six million Kenyans get proper affordable houses.

Another noteworthy example of green building standards for affordable housing development is Acorn Holding Limited, who, in 2019, issued the first Green Bond in Kenya and by extension, the East African region. The projects were benchmarked against International Finance Corporation EDGE green building standard.

Private investment will make the difference

It is essential that governments and institutions create an enabling environment for investment: a clear and transparent regulatory framework sets the foundation for a conducive business environment. Governments need to create the right legislative, regulatory, and institutional environment to attract private investors to come on board.

For instance, African Special Economic Zones (SEZ) are considered one of the main instruments that stimulate economic reforms, promote quality foreign direct investments (FDIs), and accelerate industrialization across the continent. Its main objective is to increase a country’s trade balance, employment, investment, job creation and effective administration.

According to the African Economic Zones Outlook (Edition 2021 (https://apo-opa.co/3N519F5)), more than 200 SEZs are operational in Africa with 73 projects  announced for completion in 47 countries. The land dedicated to SEZs is nearly 150,000 hectares while over $2.6 billion has been mobilized in investments dedicated to agro-processing, manufacturing, and services. In Africa, the number of special economic zones (SEZs) is steadily rising but there are still challenges to meeting industrialization, foreign direct investment attraction, and job creation targets.

Special economic zones are geographical areas that are mostly located at borders, and offer investors attractive tax incentives (reduced or zeroed), infrastructure (developed land, factory buildings and public services), a special customs regime (exemption of inputs from customs duties and taxes), and simplified administrative procedures. They owe their fame mainly to being instrumental in the economic take-off of Asian giants such as China, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

As exposed earlier, financing is available, but lenders (private or otherwise) want to see a return on their investment. However, a lack of understanding of the African context makes it difficult for new investors. Each country needs to be treated uniquely according to its strengths and needs. It is vital that the diverse economies’ various needs are embraced. Monitoring and protection of their assets’ full life cycle, from design to construction, operation, and completion to de-risk the investment is sought, a knowledge that guaranteed funding is being appropriately managed to ensure healthy financial returns.

It is imperative that quality, health and safety, sustainability, corporate social responsibility are monitored according to global standards to ensure outstanding infrastructure is developed for the long term. Massive opportunities are anticipated and through effective facilitation of projects based on partnerships of trust and harmonization of regulatory compliance standards, it is predicated that investment appetite will mature. It promises to be a win-win all around.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Bureau Veritas.

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Emirates and the Kenya Tourism Board sign partnership agreement to drive inbound tourism

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2 days ago

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September 18, 2026

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Emirates

Reinforcing the airline’s longstanding commitment in market, the partnership agreement supports Kenya’s ambition to be the most visited tourism destination in Africa by promoting the destination in key regions on the airline’s vast global network

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, September 18, 2026/APO Group/ –Emirates (www.Emirates.com) and the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) have signed a partnership agreement at the 2026 Arabian Travel Market, to strengthen collaboration and support the growth of inbound tourism to Kenya. Already one of the most consistently in-demand destinations on the airline’s Africa network, the partnership will build on this strong demand and help unlock new opportunities for Kenya to attract visitors from emerging and established markets around the world.
 




 
 

The partnership agreement was signed by Adil Al Ghaith, Emirates’ Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations, Centre, and June Chepkemei, Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Tourism Board, in the presence of Ambassador. (Professor.) Julius K. Bitok, CBS. Principal Secretary, State Department for Tourism, and Adnan Kazim, Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, Rashid Alardha, Vice President of Commercial Operations for Sub-Saharan Africa, Emirates and Christophe Leloup, Emirates’ Country Manager in Kenya, along with other senior officials.

 

Adil Al Ghaith said, “Kenya has been an important market for Emirates for over three decades, and our commitment goes much deeper than operations and connections. We’ve consistently invested in our presence in the market, working closely with travel trade partners and tourism stakeholders to stimulate inbound travel, and contribute positively to the global perception of Kenya. Nairobi remains one of the top 5 busiest gateways for Emirates in Africa, with significant traffic coming from UK and Europe, as well as the US. This partnership solidifies that longstanding commitment, enhancing our collaboration with the Kenya Tourism Board and the full, thriving tourism ecosystem across Nairobi and Kenya.”

 

We are delighted to partner with Emirates to strengthen Kenya’s global tourism profile and showcase the remarkable experiences our destination offers to travellers around the world

June Chepkemei said, “We are delighted to partner with Emirates to strengthen Kenya’s global tourism profile and showcase the remarkable experiences our destination offers to travellers around the world. Emirates’ extensive international network and strong reach in both established and emerging markets will help us build on the growing demand for Kenya and unlock new opportunities to attract more visitors. This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to promoting Kenya as a leading, diverse and unforgettable destination, while supporting the continued growth of inbound tourism and the many communities that benefit from it.”

 

Tourism is a key pillar in Kenya’s economy, creating thousands of employment opportunities and serving millions of tourists who visit the country each year. The Kenya Tourism Board has bold plans to establish Kenya as the most visited tourism destination in Africa, with a year-round calendar of diverse, sustainable and authentic experiences that appeal to a swathe of international visitors.

 

Under the framework of the partnership agreement, Emirates and KTB will explore joint initiatives to promote Kenya in key markets on the airline’s global network, showcasing the breadth of Kenya’s year-round tourism offering, and encourage more travellers to visit. The partners will also closely collaborate to develop programmes for trade partners and tour operators that educate and excite the industry, such as incentives, familiarisation trips and other marketing initiatives.

 

Last year, Emirates marked 30 years of operations to Nairobi and, during that tenure, has established deep-rooted ties with local communities and the travel trade ecosystem. Earlier this month, the airline’s tour operating arm, Emirates Holidays, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenya Association of Travel Agents to stimulate outbound travel by equipping over 300 travel agencies with enhanced product and network insight and competitive promotional opportunities.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Emirates Group.

 




 

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Afreximbank and Development Bank of Southern Africa establish a Joint Project Preparation Facility to advance bankable projects in Southern Africa

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2 days ago

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September 18, 2026

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Afreximbank

Through the JPPF, the institutions will jointly originate, screen and prioritise projects and support the technical, financial and legal work required to address bankability constraints

CAIRO, Egypt, September 18, 2026/APO Group/ –African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) have signed a Joint Project Preparation Facility (JPPF) Framework Agreement. Under the agreement, each institution will be able to contribute up to US$10 million to prepare high-impact, trade-enabling infrastructure and industrial projects in South Africa and the wider region.

 




 
 

The agreement is one of the first operational instruments to follow South Africa’s accession to the Afreximbank Establishment Agreement in February 2026. South Africa became Afreximbank’s 54th member state in February 2026, when the Bank also announced a US$ 8 billion Country Programme for the country. The agreement complements the Master Risk Participation Agreement signed by Afreximbank and DBSA in February 2026, extending the partnership upstream into project preparation. It also supports the objectives of South Africa’s National Development Plan 2030, SADC integration and implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Mrs Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade and Export Development, signed on behalf of Afreximbank, while Mr. Greg Fyfe, Chief Investment Officer, DBSA, signed on behalf of his institution.

Through the JPPF, the institutions will jointly originate, screen and prioritise projects and support the technical, financial and legal work required to address bankability constraints. Priority sectors include power and energy, with particular attention to energy transition; transport and logistics; information and communication technology; strategic minerals beneficiation; and other mutually agreed sectors aligned with national, regional and continental development priorities. The framework will focus initially on South Africa and the wider Southern African region, with scope to consider other African jurisdictions of mutual interest.

Through this partnership with Afreximbank, we are leveraging our complementary strengths to improve project preparation

Through the JPPF, Afreximbank and DBSA will collaborate to advance high-impact projects from concept stage to bankability. The focus will be on trade-enabling infrastructure, industrial development, and export-oriented initiatives across South Africa and the Southern African region, with potential extension to other African jurisdictions of mutual strategic interest.

Commenting on the agreement, Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade and Export Development at Afreximbank said:

“Africa’s infrastructure challenge is not only about shortage of capital; it is also about shortage of projects prepared to the standard required by investors and lenders. This JPPF addresses this critical constraint. By combining Afreximbank’s trade and industrialisation mandate with DBSA’s infrastructure-development expertise, we will help move priority projects from concept to investment readiness and mobilise the larger pools of public, private and blended finance required for implementation. For South Africa and the wider Southern Africa region, this is how project preparation becomes a practical instrument for industrialisation, export growth and regional integration under the AfCFTA.”

Gregory Fyfe, Chief Investment Officer at DBSA, said:

“The Joint Project Preparation Facility represents a significant step towards strengthening the pipeline of bankable infrastructure and industrial projects across South Africa and the Southern African region. Through this partnership with Afreximbank, we are leveraging our complementary strengths to improve project preparation. This will unlock investment opportunities and accelerate the delivery of infrastructure that supports economic growth, industrialisation and regional integration. This initiative reflects DBSA’s commitment to infrastructure-led development and to enabling sustainable, long-term impact through well-prepared projects that attract both public and private sector investment.”

Projects developed through the JPPF may seek downstream funding from Afreximbank, DBSA. They may also be presented to private investors, development finance institutions and commercial lenders, subject in every case to separate appraisal and approval. Both institutions will actively collaborate on origination, preparation, knowledge-sharing, and portfolio monitoring to accelerate project bankability and execution.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.

 

 




 

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Advancing the Agentic World, Building a Solid Silicon Foundation

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2 days ago

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September 18, 2026

By

HUAWEI

Key takeaways:

  • Strategic focus: The rapid approach of an intelligent world is driving up demand for computing power. Huawei is focused on developing AI infrastructure, and is actively driving innovation in systems and architecture centered around SuperPoDs and SuperClusters. These efforts are aimed at building a solid silicon foundation for the intelligent world.
  • Technological breakthroughs: Huawei unveiled the Atlas 960E SuperPoD, the first in the industry to use NPO. The company also launched an upgraded TaiShan 950 SuperPoD, as well as the OceanStor M900 (a memory context storage system). Interconnected with UnifiedBus, Huawei’s agentic SuperCluster can scale up to one million NPUs.
  • Open ecosystems: Huawei is actively building out open computing ecosystems. To date, the Kunpeng ecosystem has attracted 4.16 million developers from around the world. CANN has moved to sustained, community-driven open-source development. Ascend now spans over 90 leading third-party open-source projects and is officially supported as a PyTorch accelerator backend.

SHANGHAI, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 17 September 2026 – HUAWEI CONNECT 2026 kicked off today in Shanghai. The first keynote of the date was by David Wang, the Deputy Chairman of the Board and Rotating Chairman at Huawei. In his speech (Advancing the Agentic World, Building a Solid Silicon Foundation), Wang highlighted the work the company is doing alongside industry stakeholders to build powerful AI infrastructure, lay a solid computing foundation, and address the challenges and opportunities in the intelligent world to come.

 




 
 

AI is sweeping the world faster than any previous technological revolution. Today, foundation model parameters are rapidly approaching 10 trillion, and are projected to exceed 100 trillion by 2030. AI agents can now work on the same task continuously, for hours on end. By 2030, they will be able to handle tasks that span months.

In China alone, the average number of inference tokens consumed every day has surged to around 500 trillion, and is expected to reach quintillions (1018) by 2030.

On-device AI is also advancing rapidly. On-device models for smartphones have expanded from three billion parameters in 2024 to 30 billion today, and will push toward hundreds of billions in the near future.

These trends will set a much higher bar for the scale, performance, and reliability of underlying technical systems. Only by building powerful AI infrastructure can the industry lay a solid foundation for the future intelligent world.

An intelligent world is approaching – and faster than ever. To lead the charge into this new world, Huawei is laser-focused on building out AI infrastructure – the silicon foundation for the future to come.

In particular, Huawei’s AI strategy is centered on computing power, with a focus on monetizing hardware. The company is also sharpening its competitive edge through systems and architectural innovation. Centering these efforts on SuperPoDs and SuperClusters, the company aims to build a solid computing foundation and offer a new option for the world.

Huawei is a major contributor to open computing ecosystems, and will continue to support native training for mainstream foundation models on its systems, as well as supporting a vast range of models and applications.

For customers, Huawei provides flexible on-premises and cloud compute solutions for its customers to accelerate intelligent transformation across industries.

With diverse forms of compute, including solutions for micro-, low-tier, mid-range, and massive computing power – Huawei is driving the expansion of on-device and in-vehicle AI, making intelligence truly ubiquitous.

Additionally, Huawei is dedicated to building next-generation communications networks to bring readily available compute and intelligence to every person, home, and organization.

SuperPoDs gain broad consensus, with adoption growing in industries, academia, and research institutes

To date, over 1,000 Atlas 900 A3 SuperPoDs have been deployed, and Atlas 950 SuperPoD is seeing large-scale commercial use. While adoption continues to grow, SuperPoDs have gained broad acceptance across industry, academia, and research institutions as a key direction for AI infrastructure. Currently, a SuperPoD is explicitly defined as a computing system in which multiple computing nodes are tightly coupled through high-speed interconnect protocols, featuring unified memory addressing across physical nodes — functioning like a single logical computer.

SuperPoDs are the go-to choice for AI infrastructure buildout. Right now, 100k-NPU computing clusters have become the baseline for training SOTA models. However, traditional server architectures result in intra-cluster communications that account for over 40% of total training time, severely constraining Model FLOPs Utilization (MFU). Simulation results from Huawei’s Markov Lab show that a 100k-NPU cluster built with 4k-NPU SuperPoDs can deliver a 2.75x increase in MFU compared to a 100k-NPU cluster composed of 8-NPU servers.

11-chip UnifiedBus-powered portfolio for SuperPoDs and SuperClusters; the Atlas 960E SuperPoD –the industry’s first to use NPO

The Ascend series of chips is the most critical component in Huawei’s 11-chip UnifiedBus-powered portfolio for SuperPoDs and SuperClusters. Development on Ascend 960 has exceeded the company’s expectations, with performance doubling as planned. Ascend 960DT will be available in Q1 2027, three quarters ahead of the company’s original roadmap. And the Ascend 960PR will be ready in Q3 2027, one quarter ahead of schedule.

“We’re evolving our Ascend chip series on a one-generation-a-year cycle,” said Wang in his keynote. “In 2028 and 2029, we will roll out the Ascend 970 and 980 chips, respectively. Thanks to the Tau (τ) Scaling Law, not only will their compute specifications continue to double, but you can also expect to see huge improvements across the board in terms of memory bandwidth, memory capacity, interconnect bandwidth, and more.”

In addition to Ascend chips, Huawei has also developed a complete portfolio of chips for AI infrastructure, based on UnifiedBus, delivering key capabilities that cover computing, interconnect, storage, and management.

“SuperPoDs are designed to coordinate multiple NPUs through interconnect,” continued Wang. “We have developed a next-generation optical interconnect product based on near-packaged optics (NPO): the High-density Optical-interconnect-Node Engine (Hi-ONE).” Built on Huawei’s proprietary technologies, Hi-ONE has a multi-physics design for balancing optical, mechanical, electrical, electromagnetic, and thermal performance, realizing a transmission capacity of 7.2 Tbit/s per single engine.

“This is the industry’s first NPO product ready for mass production, delivering the largest transmission capacity. It is also the industry’s first NPO product with a built-in light source.”

This product combines high bandwidth and high reliability with low latency and low power consumption. This, coupled with UnifiedBus, will make it far easier to scale up SuperPoD interconnect systems.

Recently, Huawei submitted an implementation agreement (IA) on NPO to the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), a standards organization. The response from numerous industry partners has been widely positive. Huawei will continue its efforts to further refine the NPO industry ecosystem.

Using Ascend 960 chips and Hi-ONE, Huawei has developed the industry’s first NPO-based SuperPoDs: the Atlas 960E SuperPoDs. A single Atlas 960E SuperPoD can scale up to 4,096 NPUs, delivering 8 EFLOPS of FP8 compute performance, with up to 1 petabyte of HBM capacity. With 5,500 Hi-ONE units, this SuperPoD doesn’t need the 48,000 800G optical modules that would traditionally be required to connect all the NPUs. This cuts power consumption by over 550 kilowatts, while doubling the system’s fault-free operating time, achieving 99.8% system availability.

Combining the upgraded TaiShan 950 SuperPoD and context memory storage to power an ultrascale cluster with 1 million NPUs

As SOTA models scale to 10 trillion parameters, training and inference can no longer rely on a single AI server or AI SuperPoD – they require a more complex computing system. This system includes AI SuperPoDs, general-purpose SuperPoDs, and an interconnect system that features peer-to-peer interconnect and zero protocol conversion. For inference, including a petabyte-scale KV cache cluster is also a must.

To meet these demands, Huawei has fully upgraded its TaiShan 950 SuperPoD. Powered by UnifiedBus all-optical networking, this new SuperPoD supports up to 4,096 nodes with a unified memory pool of up to 256 TB. This setup significantly improves agent performance. For sandbox-intensive workloads, startup speeds for 100,000 sandboxes are 30 times faster than traditional servers, and sandbox density can be improved by an additional 25%. For vector search across 10 billion x 1,000-dimensional vectors, this SuperPoD delivers twice the search efficiency of traditional servers.

Huawei has also launched OceanStor M900 – a UnifiedBus-powered context memory storage cluster that delivers multi-tier KV caching for agent-heavy and longer-context workloads. Designed for agentic inference, this cluster supports one-hop direct access and provides a petabyte-scale KV cache for the L3.5 layer. OceanStor M900 also uses hybrid media and an optimized retention algorithm, extending SSD read/write lifespan by 16-fold. This ensures a higher KV cache hit rate alongside long-term stability and reliability from the ground up.

Combining its strengths in computing and communications, Huawei has built a brand-new agentic SuperCluster to accelerate training and inference for 10-trillion-parameter models. This SuperCluster uses UnifiedBus to consolidate multiple interconnect protocols into a single unified protocol, significantly reducing protocol conversion overhead. This delivers peer-to-peer interconnect between subsystems like Ascend SuperPoDs, Kunpeng SuperPoDs, and KV cache clusters. The SuperCluster also comes with a multi-tier, high-bandwidth, and large-capacity storage system that enables direct single-hop access for all KV cache tiers.

With a two-tier, four-plane Clos architecture, the SuperCluster can interconnect up to 512,000 NPUs. When combined with a multi-rail topology, this cluster can support up to one million NPUs.

One of Huawei’s core strategies: Going open source and open system to build out computing ecosystems

The Kunpeng ecosystem is driving digital and intelligent innovation across a wide range of industries. To date, the Kunpeng ecosystem has attracted over 4.16 million developers and more than 7,200 ecosystem partners from around the globe. The community currently supports over 560 open-source projects worldwide. openEuler has seen more than 20 million installations, securing the largest share in China’s server OS market.

The Ascend ecosystem has reached a new inflection point. The Compute Architecture for Neural Networks (CANN) is the foundation of the Ascend ecosystem. Today, CANN has moved to sustained, community-driven open-source development, which has brought the platform from usable to user-friendly.

External CANN developers now comprise 61% of all CANN developers, outnumbering internal developers for the first time. With over 5,200 monthly active developers, the CANN community has become the most vibrant open-source community in China. What’s more, over 40 models have been natively pre-trained on Ascend and CANN, making it the only proven domestic stack capable of model pre-training.

Ascend now supports over 90 leading third-party open-source projects, including PyTorch, Triton, vLLM, and veRL. With strong support from the Linux Foundation, Ascend is the first official Chinese compute platform on PyTorch’s website. This gives developers around the world ready access to new innovations in the Ascend ecosystem.

Diverse forms of compute for ubiquitous on-device and in-vehicle AI

AI is expanding faster into all kinds of devices. To deliver an unparalleled AI experience across all scenarios, Huawei will continue to strengthen capabilities in four key areas:

First, Huawei will combine Kirin and Ascend chips to drive self-reliance and autonomy in on-device compute.

Second, Huawei will bring together Pangu models and third-party models to make on-device intelligence better and easier to use.

Third, HarmonyOS, as an Agent OS for ubiquitous intelligence, will be completely redefined from the ground up – spanning system architecture, how it operates, and interaction logic – to enable human-agent collaboration.

Fourth, Huawei will keep cultivating a diverse AI ecosystem, which is the foundation for its system agent Celia to thrive.

Huawei plans to build four on-device computing platforms: for AI phones, AI PCs, vehicles, and homes. Through cross-device and device-cloud compute synergy, Huawei will be able to provide distributed swarm intelligence, delivering integrated and continuous intelligent services across personal mobile, office, vehicle, and home spaces, ultimately bringing intelligence to every person and every space.

Building next-generation communications that prioritize readily available compute, because without networks, all compute is siloed

Next-generation communications networks are crucial for fully unleashing the value of AI compute. We are driving the upgrade to networks that, in addition to connecting people, will prioritize delivering readily available compute. These networks will be underpinned by 5G-A/6G, 10-gigabit optical networks, and multi-tier, low-latency bearer networks, delivering intelligent connectivity across data centers, the edge, and devices.

Concluding his keynote, Wang expressed that AI “may well be the final technological revolution in human history,” noting that its impact is deeper and broader, and coming faster than anyone could have ever imagined. “No single company,” he said, “can build an intelligent world alone.”

He stressed Huawei’s ongoing commitments moving forward:
Huawei will remain committed to building a solid silicon foundation to make computing power readily accessible to all.
The company will continue to open source its software, helping developers unleash their full potential.
It will continue to embrace a wide range of models and applications, unlocking value in every form.

“And we will continue to work together to drive shared success, growing together with our customers and partners around the world,” Wang concluded. “Let’s work together to build a fully connected, intelligent world.”

Themed Advancing the Agentic World, HUAWEI CONNECT 2026 will delve into AI across three dimensions: strategy, technology, and ecosystems. You can expect an in-depth look at our latest strategic initiatives, and we’ll also be unveiling our all-new digital and intelligent infrastructure products, scenario-specific solutions for industries, and development tools. The event will run from September 17 to 19 at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center and Shanghai Expo Center. For more information, please visit HUAWEI CONNECT 2026 online at www.huawei.com/en/events/huaweiconnect

FAQs:

Q1: What is a SuperPoD, and why is it becoming increasingly important?

A SuperPoD is a computing system in which multiple computing nodes are tightly coupled through high-speed interconnect, enabling them to share unified memory and function like a single computer. As foundation model training and inference continue to scale up, SuperPoDs can reduce communications overhead in large-scale clusters and improve Model FLOPs Utilization (MFU). They have gained broad consensus across industry, academia, and research institutes in AI infrastructure, and are the go-to choice for AI infrastructure buildout.

Q2: What makes the Atlas 960E SuperPoDs special?

The Atlas 960E SuperPoD is the industry’s first NPO-based SuperPoD. A single Atlas 960E SuperPoD can scale up to 4,096 NPUs, delivering 8 EFLOPS of FP8 compute performance, with up to 1 petabyte of HBM capacity. With 5,500 Hi-ONE units, this SuperPoD doesn’t need the 48,000 800G optical modules that would traditionally be required to connect all the NPUs. This cuts power consumption by over 550 kilowatts, while doubling the system’s fault-free operating time, achieving 99.8% system availability. Atlas 960E SuperPoDs can provide efficient and reliable computing power for large-scale AI training and inference.

Q3: What is NPO, and what role does Hi-ONE play in a SuperPoD?

NPO stands for Near-Packaged Optics, an optical interconnect technology designed for high-speed connectivity. Hi-ONE, developed by Huawei, is the industry’s first NPO product ready for mass production. It delivers the largest transmission capacity at 7.2 Tbit/s and is currently the industry’s only NPO product with a built-in light source. Hi-ONE, coupled with UnifiedBus, will make it far easier to scale up SuperPoD interconnect systems.
 




 

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