The mission is centered on building local capacity and reducing dependency on foreign proprietary stacks.

The government is prioritizing high-fidelity regulatory policies designed to streamline digital integration while maintaining domestic oversight of critical infrastructure. Speaking with Ericsson’s leadership at GITEX Africa, Kashifu Inuwa emphasized that the strategy is not about navigating geopolitical rivalries, but about securing long-term technological independence and localized system control.

“We are building our national software infrastructure. We are coming up with very high-standard regulatory policies that will help us build capacity for digital software integration,” he said. “For me, it is not about politics. It is not about geo-tech politics. It is not about banning China. It is about how we, as a country, have control and are able to shape our digital future.”

He stressed that Nigeria is not pursuing an exclusionary approach toward global technology partners, but rather seeking balanced collaboration that ensures value creation within the country.

“We are not saying we are banning hyperscalers from coming. We want them to come, work with local partners, create value in Africa, and let us capture that value here,” he noted.

The NITDA DG drew parallels with global regulatory trends, pointing to frameworks such as the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act, and Data Governance Act as examples of regions asserting digital sovereignty through structured policy environments.

He added that Nigeria’s approach aligns with the global shift toward treating digital infrastructure as critical national infrastructure, a move already supported by existing executive orders in the country.

“We already have an executive order that makes all digital infrastructure a national critical infrastructure,” he explained. “But building a fully sovereign digital system takes time. Even the EU did not achieve it overnight.”

A key priority of the policy direction, he said, is ensuring that data generated within Nigeria remains protected and that intellectual capacity and digital intelligence are developed locally rather than exported.

“We want to keep the intelligence in our country. We want to be part of creating value, not just receiving technology,” he said.

He also highlighted concerns about historical imbalances in global industrial development, noting that Africa has often contributed raw materials, labour, and data without fully benefiting from value-added industries.

“We don’t want a repeat of previous industrial revolutions where Africa was left behind. This time, it is about value creation and building our own digital offerings,” he added.

Discussions are also ongoing around data ownership frameworks, particularly in emerging technologies and industrial systems, where questions of who controls machine-generated data remain central to future regulation.

The government is expected to unveil clearer policy direction in the coming months as part of its broader national digital transformation agenda.

On the industry side, Ericsson reaffirmed its long standing involvement in Nigeria’s telecom sector. Amos Haddebe, the company’s director for Government and Policy Advocacy in Africa, said Ericsson has operated in Nigeria for over five decades, supporting the country’s telecommunications evolution from 2G to 5G.

He noted that Ericsson continues to collaborate closely with operators such as MTN Group, as part of its commitment to advancing Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda.

Haddebe outlined four key pillars of a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Nigerian government in October 2024, including the establishment of a joint innovation hub, a national hackathon, digital skills development programmes, and exchange of best practices.

He further revealed that the ongoing national hackathon, launched under the supervision of the Vice President, is already underway and will be integrated with broader innovation initiatives.

On broader industry concerns, Haddebe warned of rising competition in Africa’s telecoms space and urged governments to treat ICT infrastructure as a matter of national security. He advocated for a diversified vendor ecosystem to ensure resilience and safeguard critical systems.

The discussions highlight Nigeria’s increasing focus on digital sovereignty, strategic partnerships, and the development of a secure and competitive digital economy.

The post Nigeria Pushes Digital Sovereignty as NITDA DG Meets Ericsson Team appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The new site will be built in Lahti, in southern Finland and the company said it will start with a capacity of 50 megawatts and could expand to 128 megawatts over time.

Projecting the facility to be up and running by 2027, TikTok began work on its first Finnish data centre in Kouvola less than a year ago. This is due to become operational by the end of this year.

Together, both sites are part of a 12 billion euro plan to store and manage European data locally.

TikTok says the programme is designed to strengthen safety for more than 200 million users across Europe. The company currently stores European data across centres in Norway, Ireland and the United States, with added security measures in place.

Pressure on TikTok has been growing on both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, regulators are paying more attention to how social media platforms handle user data and protect children.

In the United States, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, avoided a ban in January after agreeing to strengthen data management.

Finland has attracted a steady flow of data centre projects in recent years. Similar investments have come from tech firms, drawn by the country’s cold climate, which reduces cooling costs, and its supply of low-cost, low-carbon electricity. The regulatory environment has also helped.

Still, not everyone in Finland is fully convinced. Last year, when details of TikTok’s first project emerged, some politicians said they were not properly informed. Questions around security and transparency have not completely gone away.

Local officials in Lahti have taken a more positive view. Mayor Niko Kyynarainen said, “In the context of Lahti, the investment is substantial. We are pleased that a main tenant agreement has been signed and that the project is progressing as planned.”

The post TikTok to Invest €1bn in Second Finland Data Centre appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

That contrast was revealed in a new report, which shows the continent is building fast, but still lagging.

The study, Data Centres in Africa 2026, says Africa’s total installed capacity is expected to triple to about 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of IT load by 2030.

But then, this growth will track global expansion rather than close the gap. The United States alone hosts about 45% of the world’s data centres.

Globally, the data centre market was valued at $243 billion in 2025 and is projected to double by 2032.

Artificial intelligence is a primary driver. McKinsey estimates AI training and inference could triple global demand for data centre capacity by 2030, with 70% of new demand linked to AI workloads.

In comparison, Africa’s footprint is small. The continent has between 220 and 230 facilities spread across 38 countries.

Capacity is concentrated in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt. Most African data is still stored abroad, mainly in Europe and North America.

That reliance brings the risks. Data hosted overseas falls under foreign laws. The report points to the U.S. CLOUD Act, which allows American authorities to compel companies under U.S. jurisdiction to hand over data, regardless of where it is physically stored.

This leaves governments and businesses in Africa asking who really controls their data and whether they truly have authority over it.

More than 40 African countries have enacted data protection laws, and 19 have ratified the Malabo Convention on cybersecurity and data protection.

However, enforcement capacity usually lags behind legislation. Investors now see regulatory clarity as an important factor in deciding where to build.

Dr Ayotunde Coker, CEO of Open Access Data Centres, said: “Africa’s path to data sovereignty depends on building local processing power, sustainable energy use, and AI capacity that reflects the continent’s own priorities and realities.”

AI is changing the direction. In April 2025, African states adopted the Africa Declaration on Artificial Intelligence in Kigali.

The declaration commits $60 billion towards continental AI ambitions and led to the creation of an Africa AI Council made up of seven ICT ministers and eight independent members.

So far, 15 African countries have adopted a national AI strategy or policy. Still, infrastructure is not satisfactory.

According to the report, outside South Africa, only about one-third of built data centre capacity is fully utilised. Even in South Africa, 74% of capacity is fitted out and in use.

Operators say they are building ahead of demand, planning on 10- to 20-year horizons.

The demand side is still uneven. While 47% of Africans are mobile subscribers, only 28% use mobile internet.

In some low-income countries, internet access can take up to 26.4% of average monthly income. The physical coverage gap has narrowed to 9%, but the usage gap stands at 64%.

At the same time, data consumption per smartphone in sub-Saharan Africa averages about 6.7GB per month, far below the global average of 21.6GB.

The International Finance Corporation estimates that doubling undersea cable capacity could cut bandwidth prices by 30 to 50%. Even moderate price drops could push usage steeply higher.

Connectivity is expanding. Africa’s terrestrial fibre network reached about 1.3 million kilometres in 2025, up from 1 million kilometres in 2019.

The World Bank approved $500 million in late 2025 to deploy a further 90,000 kilometres of fibre. Egypt now connects to more than 19 subsea cable systems, Djibouti to 12, and South Africa to 11.

However, access to computing power is limited. Latency from African users to major cloud regions abroad usually exceeds 70 to 100 milliseconds, compared with less than 20 milliseconds in mature markets.

Where local cloud regions exist, such as in South Africa, median latency falls to between 35 and 45 milliseconds.

The report describes this as a “compute divide”. It argues that competitiveness will depend more on where computing capacity sits and how close it is to users, not just connectivity,

Investment is flowing in response. Hyperscalers and technology investors are estimated to have committed between $2.5 billion and $4 billion to African data centres in recent years.

Development finance institutions have put in an estimated $1.5 billion to $2 billion since 2016. Commercial banks, private equity firms and sovereign investors have also stepped up.

Private equity-backed platforms such as Raxio and Actis-backed Digital Realty have pursued regional expansion. Telecom-linked operators including Africa Data Centres, Nxtra by Airtel and STELLARIX are carving out carrier-neutral facilities while leveraging existing fibre networks.

Governments are building national facilities as well. Nigeria’s Galaxy Backbone, Ghana’s National Data Centre, Rwanda’s National Data Centre and state-backed projects in Ethiopia and Togo aim to anchor government cloud services and sensitive public data locally.

The economics are demanding, with building a standard Tier III facility globally now costing about $11.3 million per megawatt.

For AI-ready sites, tenant fit-out costs alone can reach $15 million to $25 million per megawatt. In Africa, operators face additional expenses linked to power back-up systems and imported equipment, with generators sometimes taking up to 18 months to deliver.

Occupancy can also take time. The report says it may take up to eight years for a new African data centre to reach 85% occupancy.

Yashnath Issur, CEO of Nxtra by Airtel Africa, said: “Developing large-scale infrastructure, such as a 40-MW data centre, fundamentally transforms the economic model of the industry.

“Beyond unlocking significant economies of scale in both construction and operations, this level of capacity also strengthens our position when negotiating long-term power purchase agreements. The result is greater cost predictability, improved energy security, and a more resilient foundation for sustainable growth.”

Talent is another pressure point, with Uptime Institute projecting the global industry will require 2.5 million full-time staff by the end of 2025.

In Africa, 39% of operators quote retention of skilled staff as their main human resources challenge. In Nigeria, that figure reaches 67%.

To respond, experts launched the Data Centre Talent Project for Africa in 2025. The three-month programme aims to enrol more than 100 engineering graduates in its pilot phase across Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, with at least 30 job placements in the first cycle.

Despite the challenges, the report concludes that Africa’s digital economy could reach $1.5 trillion by 2030.

For that to happen, Africa data centre capacity will need to move from scarce infrastructure to becoming a reliable, local backbone for cloud services, AI and public systems.

The post Africa Holds Just 0.6% Global Data Centre Capacity as $60bn AI Drive Spurs 1.2GW Expansion by 2030 appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The two-day conference, themed “The Big Bold Step,” brought together telecoms operators, global technology firms, startups, investors, students and public-sector leaders at Landmark Event Centre to discuss what it will take for Africa to stop lagging and start building platforms of its own.

From keynote sessions to fireside chats and product showcases, the conference stressed that the limitations initially preventing African companies from competing at scale are fading away, but hesitation remains highly expensive.

Glory Olamigoke, co-founder and co-convener of Tech Revolution Africa, said the conference was designed to close a persistent gap in the ecosystem.

“We are trying to solve a number of problems and close a number of gaps, but perhaps the most critical one is bridging the gap between the early stage innovators, builders, founders in the ecosystem and the leaders in the space,” he said.

Unlike typical industry gatherings, Olamigoke said the event was intentionally structured to bring founders and decision-makers into the same room, while also extending its reach beyond established stakeholders.

“We are going all the way down to the secondary schools, the primary schools, because we believe that if we can start to culture these young ones, then we will be able to influence the next generation,” he said, pointing to the student tech debates introduced at this year’s edition.

That emphasis on long-term capacity building was reiterated through the day’s conversations, including a fireside chat with the Federal Government, represented by Lagos State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Olatunbosun Alake.

Drawing from Nigeria’s reputation challenges abroad, Alake said that while technology is important, Africa’s potential cannot be realised without addressing surrounding challenges, including Nigeria’s image abroad.

“It’s not a technology conversation,” he said. “It’s a conversation that is at the very bottom of the motivation behind everything.”

He urged young professionals to engage the public sector rather than avoid it, describing the work as difficult but impactful. “By all means, do that, because you will have an impact, but make sure that your principles and your values remain strong,” he said.

MTN Nigeria’s keynote on the digital economy forecast for 2026, delivered by its Chief Information Officer, Shoyinka Shodunke, went beyond a focus on growth projections. 

Shodunke traced Africa’s marginal role across previous industrial revolutions and warned that the fourth leaves little room for delay.

“The inputs today are data, and where’s the factory? The factory sits in the cloud,” he said, adding that talent is no longer bound by geography and computing power no longer requires heavy capital outlay.

He pointed to cloud subscriptions available “at $50” compared to six-figure infrastructure costs in the past, arguing that scale is now accessible to startups and enterprises alike. But he warned that comfort with legacy revenue streams could still hold organisations back.

“You cannot live with a legacy mindset, a fear of disruption, or the comfort of mediocrity,” Shodunke said.

Using MTN as a case study, he explained how the telecoms giant has had to intentionally disrupt itself, moving beyond voice and data into cloud services, fintech and intelligent platforms layered on top of its network infrastructure.

The focus on infrastructure continued during MTN’s product showcase, where Onome Ologe and Tobechukwu Ajoku outlined the company’s local cloud services, emphasising data residency, naira-based pricing and predictable operating costs for Nigerian businesses.

“If you’re a CFO or a founder and you need to know cost accountability, you can go to sleep,” Ajoku said, noting that pricing remains stable regardless of foreign exchange volatility.

From infrastructure, the conversation at Tech Revolution Africa 2.0 moved into data and artificial intelligence during a presentation by Ligadata’s Mike Penner, who revealed the scale of its partnership with MTN Nigeria’s data operations.

“We now are running at 1.2 trillion pet records, 1.4 million records per second,” Penner said, describing a system designed to turn fragmented enterprise data into real-time, actionable intelligence.

“What we’ve done over the past few years at MTN together is something extraordinary,” he said, adding that the goal was not experimentation but measurable value creation.

Penner noted that African enterprises must treat data and knowledge as sovereign assets, warning against outsourcing intelligence without understanding what drives it.

That theme of sovereignty and control resurfaced during a panel on open innovation and hybrid platforms featuring executives from Red Hat and Redington. 

Speakers explained that open-source software and hybrid cloud models offer African companies flexibility without locking them into single platforms or geographies.

“Open source is driving innovation.” It is a condition of innovation, particularly for startups seeking speed without prohibitive expenses.

During a fireside chat on Global Tech & the African Market, Soji Maurice-Diya, CEO of ntel (NatCom), emphasized the need for Africa to focus on solving its own problems rather than simply chasing global trends.

He said, “Nobody’s going to solve our problems for us. Yes, we need global access, we need all the technology that’s available, taper all of the solutions and build our own solutions.”

Maurice-Diya added that African companies should prioritise innovation that addresses local challenges, ensuring technology creates measurable impact rather than just replicating global models.

Equinix’s Ayomide Jones, EMEA Business Development, West Africa, also spoke on the role of interconnection in Africa’s digital growth. She highlighted how networks, content and cloud providers work together to enhance modern businesses. 

“Everything we use nowadays to solve our problems is content. This is only possible because of interconnection,” Jones said. 

She explained that Equinix’s data centres in Lagos and across Africa enable startups and enterprises to connect to cloud services, financial systems, and global platforms without heavy upfront investment, creating the infrastructure that allows African businesses to scale quickly.

For all the talk of opportunity, speakers repeatedly returned to execution as the differentiator. “We always talk, so now, let’s go back and execute,” Olamigoke said.

Day Two of Tech Revolution Africa Conference 2.0 continues on Saturday, with further sessions on policy, investment, emerging technologies and the role of African enterprises in strengthening the continent’s digital economy.

The post Tech Revolution Africa 2.0: MTN, Experts Urge Continent to Harness Cloud, Data and Talent to Compete Globally appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

As enterprises strive to become increasingly data-driven in their decision-making, strategy development, and operational processes, the value of trusted data is growing exponentially.

Advancements in Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) technology are unlocking the full potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the key enabler that allows businesses to rapidly extract actionable insights from massive, complex datasets that would be impossible to process manually.

Today, AI applications are being used to build predictive and comparative models, conduct scenario planning and simulations, monitor operations and optimise efficiency, and drive strategic implementation and innovation.

However, as reliance on data grows, so does the risk. When sensitive data is exposed, whether in the public or private sector, the consequences can be severe.

This risk is amplified by the shift from on-premise infrastructure to cloud-based data storage and processing.

Up against global players

Most major cloud providers operate globally to achieve scale, but this raises a critical question: Does that model still serve local business interests?

Take South Africa, for example. Local companies are no longer competing solely within national borders; they are up against global players.

Many South African businesses depend on cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management, (CRM) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Digital Platform offerings that are, in many cases, hosted on global cloud providers’ platforms.

With Digital Platforms it is not always clear to the customer where the data is being stored in a global cloud.

Most businesses store some form of intellectual property within their datasets that could be exploited should a competitor gain unauthorised access to it. It would be naïve to not consider this a serious threat.

For governments and other highly regulated industries, the risks are even more pronounced. With increasing geopolitical tensions and sanctions, judicial and operational control over cloud infrastructure becomes a strategic vulnerability.

As an example, if a cloud is hosted in the United States (US), and diplomatic relations sour, access to that data could be cut off. Suddenly, a government may find itself locked out of its own digital assets.

This is why data localisation and sovereignty have become urgent priorities. Governments are enacting compliance laws that require certain categories of data to remain within national borders.

In South Africa, such regulations issued by the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) have been in place since May last year, mandating that sensitive data be stored locally.

Closing the loopholes

Until recently, regulations like the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) lacked accountability, and many companies exploited loopholes such as offshoring workloads to Europe, where cloud services are scaled on a more economic business model, including more availability for scaling.

But this is changing with the introduction of additional regulations and compliance. For example, new financial sector regulations, such as the Financial Sector Regulation Act (FSRA), now mandate how data must be processed and stored by companies in that sector.

This move towards global financial-grade standards has triggered tighter controls with legal and regulatory consequences.

CIOs are becoming more aware and intentional regarding the requirements for rigorous auditing; transparency in tracking exactly where their data resides, how it moves and transforms, ensuring full visibility and compliance across testing, production and backup environments.

These developments are reshaping the cloud and digital platform landscape. Traditional public clouds, designed to leverage economies of scale by serving multiple sovereign markets from a single or regionally positioned location, are no longer viable for certain use cases.

Instead, we are seeing a shift in demand toward local provider-managed clouds that are tailored for specific workloads, industries and geographic locations, that are configured to meet sovereignty standards, or customer-managed clouds within their own data centre.

For individual enterprises, building and maintaining a sovereign cloud deployed in-country to meet local compliance and ownership requirements is often not their core business and is a complex endeavour.

Cost and complexity challenges

Global providers often struggle with this model due to the cost and complexity of deploying infrastructure in every market and region.

This opens the door for smaller, agile cloud providers who specialise in local sovereign deployments. They build infrastructure locally, tailored to the regulatory and operational requirements of each market.

This approach allows the end customer to retain some of the benefits of the cloud by avoiding operational infrastructure complexity and leveraging economies of scale of shared services to a point.

But they also gain the benefit of compliance, risk mitigation and trust through the commitment of a local sovereign cloud provider who demonstrates their commitment to data sovereignty and local jurisdiction.

CIOs and CEOs must now take a hands-on approach in specifying and auditing cloud solutions. It is not enough for a provider to claim local presence.

A service may appear local, but its backend might run from Europe or the US. Without transparency, sensitive data can quietly drift offshore.

Ultimately, this shift demands a steep learning curve, not just for leadership, but for networking teams and compliance officers. It is no longer just about POPIA but about full-spectrum data sovereignty.

The post Unpacking Africa’s Shifting Landscape of Data, Cloud and Sovereignty appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Built with 96 prefabricated containers in its first phase, the centre is designed with future-readiness at its core, integrating AI-driven energy optimisation, advanced sustainability measures, and robust hybrid cloud capabilities to meet the growing demands of enterprises.

Just this week, the facility earned the prestigious Uptime Institute’s Tier III Certification for Constructed Facility (TCCF), reaffirming MTN’s commitment to world-class standards in reliability, performance, and security.

To understand the vision behind this milestone and how it connects to MTN’s broader digital transformation strategy, Techeconomy sat down with Lynda Saint-Nwafor, chief enterprise business officer at MTN Nigeria, to discuss the role of Dabengwa in shaping data sovereignty, empowering businesses, and positioning Nigeria as a digital hub for West Africa.

Excerpt:

TE: What inspired the launch of the Dabengwa Data Centre, and how does it align with MTN’s long-term vision for digital infrastructure in Nigeria and West Africa?

Lynda Saint-Nwafor (LSN): The Dabengwa Data Centre is about data sovereignty, scale, and sustainability. It’s designed to keep Africa’s data in Africa while enabling businesses to scale securely. For MTN, it aligns with our vision to be the leading digital solutions provider across Africa, building infrastructure that supports long-term economic transformation.

TE: What makes the Dabengwa Data Centre unique in terms of scale, design, and technology? How does it compare to global standards?

LSN: Dabengwa is Nigeria’s largest prefabricated modular Tier III facility with a 9MW capacity, fully expandable to Tier IV. It meets global benchmarks for uptime, energy efficiency, and compliance, while being locally built and maintained.

TE: How will this data centre enhance data sovereignty, storage reliability, and local cloud hosting capabilities for businesses?

LSN: Hosting locally means lower latency, faster response times, and compliance with Nigeria’s data regulations. More importantly, it gives Nigerian businesses control, keeping sensitive financial, health, and government data within national borders.

TE: Can you speak to the sustainability and energy efficiency measures integrated into the modular design?

LSN: Absolutely. Modular design means we scale as demand grows, reducing wasted energy. The facility also integrates advanced cooling and power systems that lower the carbon footprint, reflecting MTN’s Net Zero 2040 commitment.

TE: How does this infrastructure position Nigeria as a digital hub for West Africa?

LSN: With Dabengwa, Nigeria has the capacity to host, store, and process data not just for local enterprises, but for regional clients. It’s a step towards making Nigeria the digital backbone of West Africa.

TE: What specific gaps or challenges in the startup ecosystem is this programme designed to address?

LSN: African startups are brilliant at innovating, but many struggle with scaling. The Cloud Accelerator addresses gaps in infrastructure, mentorship, and market access, giving founders the tools and platforms to move forward.

TE: How does the programme support startups in sectors like fintech, health tech, and agritech, especially in cloud adoption? Any consideration for media startups?

LSN: Every startup needs infrastructure that scales. Whether it’s payments, health records, or agri-data, our APIs and cloud solutions enable them to operate faster and securely. And yes, media and creative startups are welcome, because they, too, depend on scalable digital platforms.

TE: Beyond cloud infrastructure, what mentorship, funding, or market access opportunities are available to the startups?

LSN: Founders get direct mentorship from experts in Africa’s tech ecosystem, access to funding opportunities, and the chance to integrate with MTN’s platforms, unlocking real customers and revenue pathways.

TE: How are you identifying and selecting high-potential startups across Africa, and what is your vision for scaling their innovations globally?

LSN: We focus on growth-stage startups with live products and proven traction. Our vision is to help them mature in Africa, and then scale their innovations globally through MTN’s network of partners.

TE: How do initiatives like Dabengwa and the Cloud Accelerator fit into MTN’s broader digital transformation agenda?

LSN: They’re at the heart of it. Infrastructure without innovation is wasted capacity. By combining both, we’re building a pipeline for digital transformation that supports enterprises, startups, and national economies.

TE: MTN has long been a telecoms leader. How are you evolving to become a digital ecosystem enabler?

LSN: We’re moving from simply providing connectivity to enabling the entire digital value chain, infrastructure, platforms, and ecosystems. This is how we stay relevant in Africa’s future.

TE: How is MTN supporting digital inclusion among underserved communities, particularly youth and women-led enterprises?

LSN: Inclusion is non-negotiable. Through tailored SME packages, digital skills training, and now the Accelerator, we are ensuring women and young people are not left out of the digital economy.

TE: Can you share insights into MTN’s investment roadmap for emerging technologies such as AI, IoT, or 5G?

LSN: These technologies are already on our roadmap. Our infrastructure is being built to support AI-driven analytics, IoT deployment across industries, and 5G-enabled enterprise solutions.

TE: What should we expect next from MTN Nigeria in terms of innovation, enterprise partnerships, and ecosystem development?

LSN: Expect deeper partnerships, more platforms, and sustained investment in infrastructure. Our commitment is simple: enabling Africa’s digital future, one innovation at a time.

The post Building Africa’s Digital Backbone: MTN’s Lynda Saint-Nwafor on the Dabengwa Data Centre and Cloud Innovation appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

This comes under the “Nigeria First” policy, which seeks to strengthen local capacity and ensure that government data remains within the country.

In a circular issued by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), MDAs were reminded to channel their technology needs through GBB, ranging from IP-network services to data centre hosting and digital infrastructure solutions. 

The decision is tied to the government’s heavy investment in the National Information Communications Technology Infrastructure Backbone (NICTIB), which remains the core of Nigeria’s e-government platform.

GBB’s mandate goes beyond connectivity. It has now been designated as the government’s official data exchange platform and the interoperability layer for Nigeria’s digital public infrastructure. This places the agency at the centre of efforts to coordinate and integrate federal digital services while maintaining the country’s data sovereignty goals.

Professor Ibrahim Adeyanju, managing director and chief executive of GBB, said the organisation had restructured its operations to better serve public institutions. “We have repositioned our organisation in such a way that the MDAs experience the quality, reliability, and innovation of our services and they can see us as a partner in their digital transformation journey,” he stated.

Adeyanju stressed the importance of collaboration with MDAs, adding: “Our pledge is to listen, collaborate, and provide tailored digital infrastructure solutions that meet the unique needs of each agency, while ensuring Nigeria’s data remains safe within our borders.”

The government is also encouraging agencies still hosting data abroad to migrate to GBB’s platforms. Officials believe this will not only improve service delivery but also enhance cybersecurity and align with global best practices.

Backed by multiple ISO certifications, GBB insists its operations are rooted in security, service excellence and innovation.

With the renewed directive, it is expected that the agency’s work with MDAs will speed up Nigeria’s digital transformation drive and directly contribute to the country’s economic growth.

The post FG Reaffirms Galaxy Backbone as Core ICT Infrastructure Provider Under Nigeria First Policy appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The data centre is of one of MTN’s most ambitious infrastructure projects to date, marking a significant leap in the country’s digital evolution.

With an initial investment of $100 million for phase one and a further $135 million planned for phase two, the facility stands as Nigeria’s largest prefabricated modular data centre and one of the biggest in West Africa.

This move positions the telecom giant not just as a leader in the sector but as a central player in the country’s digital transformation and cloud computing space.

Named in honour of the late Sifiso Dabengwa, a former CEO of both MTN Nigeria and the MTN Group, the data centre commemorates a man whose contributions helped shape the company’s legacy in Nigeria and across Africa. 

More than a technological facility, the Dabengwa Data Centre represents MTN’s broader commitment to Nigeria’s data sovereignty, innovation economy, and long-term digital resilience. 

MTN Dabengwa Data Centre will significantly reduce the country’s reliance on foreign cloud services and keep vital digital infrastructure within national borders.

Watch out for details…

The post MTN to Launch Dabengwa Data Centre and ‘MTN Cloud’ appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Article Written By Laurent Allard, Head of Sovereign Cloud, VMware EMEA Data is immensely valuable to all organisations, a significant resource for the digital economy and the ‘cornerstone of our EU industrial competitiveness,’ says the European Commission. But its value is determined by how it can be protected and used by those who own it.

The challenges of managing and storing sensitive and critical data are growing. The volume of highly sensitive data now hosted in the cloud is on an upward trajectory.

Sixty four percent of EMEA organisations have actually increased their volume of sensitive data, and 63% have already stored confidential and secret data in the public cloud, according to IDC.

Managing this exposure of highly sensitive data, which could be financial, personal, national or critical information, is driving the need for data sovereignty – where this intelligence is bound by the privacy laws and governance structures within a nation, industry sector or organisation.

This exposure of such data in the public cloud should be influencing every organisation’s future cloud strategy and the imperative of sovereign clouds.

Yet challenges exist. To date, there is no standard definition, nor European certification, to assess a cloud as ‘sovereign cloud’, and not even common terminology ‘sovereign cloud vs. trusted cloud’. But what is crystal clear is the set of key requirements associated with confidential and sensitive data, such as data and metadata control, residency and exposure to external jurisdiction.

Agreements on data sovereignty must come first, so organisations understand how to keep control of their data and to choose the appropriate platform to host their data and innovate in a secured way.

However, this is not always understood outside of technical teams. If your organisation’s management has its head in the clouds when it comes to data sovereignty, here are five key messages to help you demonstrate the value of a secure data strategy, and explain why there is no data sovereignty without cloud sovereignty:

1. Data classification determines choice of cloud

The days of customer information sitting in a single, monolithic database are well and truly dead. It is now essential for organisations to manage their data and applications in a multi-cloud environment, with the application, workload and data type determining the cloud used.

Our research shows that nearly half (47%) of organisations understand that using multiple clouds will help them address security and privacy concerns, while better enabling them to monetise their data. And ultimately, organisations that fail to embrace this will inevitably get left behind.

So, while it is now common for organisations to use several clouds to secure and manage their data and applications, with the drive for sovereignty, we’re seeing a review of usage to allow a mix of clouds with different levels of control and certification.

This boils down to the type of data, for example its volume, sensitivity, criticality and exploitability; the data owner’s priorities in regard to it, such as its privacy or economic advantage; and regulations.

Data sovereignty therefore needs to start with the classification of data, to ensure specific assurances and capabilities on data residency, data protection, interoperability and portability.

Organisations can then choose the best clouds for the job, from sovereign private clouds to sovereign public clouds to trusted public clouds – ensuring they comply with sovereignty and jurisdictional rules.

Until now much of this has been conducted with the confidence that cloud providers are upholding their promises of data sovereignty. Unfortunately, recent closer scrutiny by regulators suggests that not all providers are equal, with some being very publicly examined to ensure they’re not missing the mark.

One provider is under investigation in Germany to ensure it’s meeting GDPR compliance, while another has just launched a new digital sovereignty pledge, leaving some customers questioning their track record up until now.

It’s therefore also essential that decision makers aren’t tripping themselves up by automatically assuming all global hyperscale cloud providers will support data sovereignty because the portfolio, data and applications will be limited to only what can be run in a region.

The physical location of data isn’t enough to give the sovereignty stamp of approval. Almost all require jurisdictional control, which cannot be assumed to be met with a data resident cloud, particularly for U.S. or global cloud providers subject to the CLOUD Act and FISA ruling.

The flow and management of the data is also crucially important, as are the consumer rights within the country you’re collecting that data from. It can be an incredibly confusing web to unweave and make sense of.

2. Secure data drives success

Data is undoubtably the driver of success and decision makers know this. A shining example is McDonald’s, where the company successfully used visitor data to assess the effectiveness of its iconic Piccadilly Circus billboards, and redirected marketing spend towards smaller, personalised adverts instead. This increased footfall to desired locations, and ultimately, drove up sales.

Research we conducted earlier this year shows that by 2024, 95% of organisations across EMEA will be looking to their data as a key revenue driver, with 46% recognising it as a significant source of revenue – up from 29% today.

And with the data monetisation market already at $2.9 billion, and another $4+ billion to be captured by 2027, it’s no wonder that more business leaders want to tap in. According to the European Commission, the data economy in Europe is expected to grow GDP from 2.6% to 4.2% by 2025.

At the same time, companies are highly aware that their data strategies must be handled with care to ensure customer privacy.

Concerns amongst consumers are increasing and getting louder in this growing discussion. There are plenty of fresh rules and regulations on the way, like DORA, which will help harmonise hard-to-reconcile regulations and reporting standards in banking across EMEA. Even with simplification like this on the horizon, meeting these regulations can be a complex journey for companies that operate across international borders.

3. Local laws don’t need to be a minefield

Whilst the value of data is clear to see, there are often understandable reservations about regulations. Data sovereignty laws differ from one country to the next, with over 100 countries having their own standards on how data should be treated and stored within their sovereign borders. They also rarely stand still and change constantly.

Organisations that fall foul of these can end up paying fines of hundreds of millions of dollars and be seen as unreliable and untrustworthy in the eyes of the consumer.

Meta, for instance, is currently facing a €390 million fine from The Irish Data Protection Commission, after its Facebook and Instagram privacy breaches.

Most people (87%) are willing to walk away from a company if some kind of data breach happens. Their trust is just as valuable as hard currency. So, how can organisations perform this delicate dance in a way that allows them to mine customer data without betraying their customers’ trust? The answer lies in the ability to share, monetise and protect data that resides across multiple clouds.

4. Forge relationships with a network

Those looking to run without being tripped up should form relationships with one of the newly formed global networks of sovereign cloud providers who have specifically joined forces to ensure that data is protected, compliant and resident within a national territory.

Working with an entity that has both national and local partners guarantees an organisation will be meeting niche requirements across the board. It also gives decision makers the ability to choose the right cloud for a specific data classification, with better governance around data mobility.

By definition, these specialised clouds are operated by a sovereign entity, so they’re exempt from foreign jurisdictional control. With a sovereign cloud, data is managed by national citizens with the relevant national security clearances.

As more organisations focus on monetising their data to capture revenue, sovereign clouds are becoming an integral part of a “cloud-smart” strategy, enabling organisations to run their business operations across multiple clouds to better serve their end customers and to gain strategic advantage.

If management doesn’t have a clue about data sovereignty, make it your new year’s resolution to ensure these five key messages are understood by all. In a world where trust is everything, both between B2C and B2B, don’t let your data strategy get tripped up by misplaced assumptions about data sovereignty.

5. Data sovereignty drives innovation

Ultimately, the reason why sovereignty is so important, is that it enables organisations to be innovative with their data and deliver new digital services. Historically, there has been a distinct lack of trust in the cloud, leading to a lack of innovation.

Some of the biggest and most important creators of data, such as finance and healthcare, continue to avoid use of public cloud because of privacy fears.

This significantly handicaps their ability to innovate, and means they are losing out on other benefits of cloud technology, such as cost-reduction, agility and scalability.

It is therefore paramount that moving forward we avoid the mistakes of the past and ensure sovereign data from the start. Today, sovereign cloud is more and more perceived as a key enabler for a ‘data-driven’ innovation.

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