NITDA pushes regional collaboration to strengthen AI infrastructure and digital sovereignty
Nigeria has called on African countries to deepen cooperation in building artificial intelligence (AI) capacity, warning that the continent risks falling behind without joint action.
The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Abdullahi, said Africa must develop shared cloud and computing infrastructure to reduce dependence on foreign technology platforms. He noted that the continent holds a large share of global population but accounts for less than 1% of global data centre capacity.
The call was made during discussions at GITEX Africa, where stakeholders emphasised collaboration, digital sovereignty, and investment in local infrastructure as key to competing in the global AI economy.
The push signals growing urgency for Africa to build its own AI ecosystem or risk continued reliance on external technologies.