Mister George Agu, the group president of ActivEdge Technologies, has called on the African continent to seize control of its technological future by owning its data, algorithms, and digital infrastructure, and highlighted the urgent need for African nations to shift from being consumers of imported technology to creators of context-relevant solutions powered by local data and infrastructure.
Presenting a keynote address titled “Building Africa’s Digital Independence: AI & Sovereign Technology,” at the 5th African Tech Alliance (AfriTECH) Forum held in Lagos on Thursday, Agu said sovereignty in the 21st century is no longer determined by political borders but by “servers owned, data governed, and algorithms controlled.”
He warned that Africa risks repeating old patterns of dependency, this time by trading raw data for foreign-made insights, just as raw materials were once exported for finished goods.
“Our goal should be to design AI solutions that are reliable for Africa, run in Africa, and reward Africa,” he said.
He described artificial intelligence as a fundamental economic layer comparable to electricity, arguing that nations now compete for data wells rather than oil wells.
Agu outlined the paradox facing Africa: while the continent has recorded explosive digital growth, over 700 innovation hubs, $5 billion in venture funding, and Nigeria alone processing ₦600 trillion in transactions via NIBSS in 2023, its digital foundation remains heavily foreign-owned.
Insisting that more than 80% of Africa’s digital infrastructure is hosted abroad, and less than 10% of AI models deployed on the continent use African data, George Agu cited examples of harmful consequences, including a small furniture business in Aba denied a loan because foreign algorithms “could not see” its informal operations, an issue he called algorithmic invisibility.
Agu’s presentation showcased successful sovereign-tech models across Africa:
- Rwanda and Kenya have digitised public services while retaining data within national jurisdictions.
- South Africa’s CSIR is developing open-source language models trained on African dialects.
- Ghana’s digital addressing has given millions a formal identity.
- Grassroots innovations, from Ethiopia’s AI-driven agriculture to Uganda’s adaptive learning systems, demonstrate the power of AI tailored to African realities.
Highlighting Nigeria’s digital strength, Agu said the country is poised to lead Africa’s sovereign AI movement due to its youthful population, vibrant startup ecosystem, and pioneering fintech rails.
He referenced Nigeria’s ongoing initiatives, including the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, the Nigeria Data Protection Act (2023), and the rise of indigenous solutions like ActivEdge’s Introspec and PayEdge, which leverage context-aware AI designed for Nigerian environments.
Citing research from McKinsey and the African Development Bank, Agu stressed that Africa could unlock $1.3 trillion in additional GDP by localizing AI systems, noting that localised AI could also raise agricultural yields by 15%, save 300,000 lives annually through improved diagnostics for African phenotypes, and create 4 million jobs by 2030.
He warned that Africa currently loses billions yearly, with Nigeria alone spending ₦150–200 billion, on foreign cloud services.
“Each gigabyte stored abroad exports value,” he noted.
Agu insisted that Africa’s challenge is not technology, but leadership capacity and ethical stewardship. “The real test is whether we can govern innovation as responsibly as we celebrate it.” He called for the integration of digital ethics, data literacy, and design literacy into governance and education systems.
The ActiveEdge Chief Executive proposed a continental strategy anchored on creating national datasets in languages, crops, health, and climate; launching an AI Corps to embed young talent in critical sectors; de-risking innovation through AI sandboxes; securing energy for data centres; and building a Pan-African Digital Common Market aligned with AfCFTA protocols.
Agu urged African innovators and governments to see digital sovereignty as a moral, economic, and generational responsibility.
“We once lost minerals to ships; we must not lose minds to algorithms,” he warned. “Africa’s digital independence will not be imported. It will be invented, by Africans, not by chance but by choice.”