Nigeria Calls for African Cooperation to Build AI Capacity, Avoid Tech Dependence

Nigeria is taking a proactive stance in urging fellow African nations to unite in building robust artificial intelligence (AI) capacity. The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Abdullahi, articulated this vision during GITEX Africa in Marrakech, Morocco, emphasizing the critical need for the continent to develop its own cloud and compute infrastructure.

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Africa has one of the youngest populations in the world and one of the fastest-growing digital economy markets, yet our share of global compute power in data centres is less than 0.6 per cent.

Abdullahi's message is clear: Africa must avoid becoming a perpetual consumer of foreign technology. With one of the world's youngest populations and a rapidly expanding digital economy, the continent possesses immense potential. However, this potential remains largely untapped if Africa continues to rely on external platforms for its digital needs. The stark reality is that Africa accounts for less than 0.6% of global compute power in data centers, a figure that starkly contrasts with its significant share of the world's population.

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Africa must avoid repeating what he described as missed opportunities during previous industrial revolutions, where the continent supplied raw materials, minerals and talent without building strong industrial or technology systems of its own.

This call for collaboration is rooted in the lessons of past industrial revolutions, where Africa often supplied raw materials without developing its own strong industrial or technological systems. Abdullahi warns against repeating this pattern in the current AI and cloudification revolution. The focus now is on data generation, storage, refinement, and intelligence creation – areas where African nations must assert their presence. The concept of a "cloud of clouds" across the continent, connecting existing infrastructure rather than building a single, centralized system, offers a pragmatic path forward.

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This revolution is about AI and cloudification. We generate the data, but who stores the data, who refines it and who creates intelligence from it? We are not there yet.

Nigeria's commitment to this vision is evident in its National Sovereign Cloud Initiative, which is laying the groundwork for such a framework locally. While specific details of discussions with global tech companies remain undisclosed, the government's priority is unequivocally national interest, not dependence on any single partnership. This strategic approach aims to foster a self-sufficient and sovereign digital future for Africa, ensuring the continent reaps the full benefits of the AI revolution.

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Our goal is national interest, not partnership with one company.