By Ejire Folakunmi
The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has issued a decisive mandate for African nations to establish domestic cloud infrastructure and data sovereignty or risk permanent digital subservience.
Speaking during a high-level strategic session at the GITEX Africa 2026 summit in Morocco, Inuwa argued that the continent must move beyond being a passive consumer of foreign technology to becoming a primary architect of its own digital ecosystem. He warned that current continental fragmentation leaves Africa vulnerable to external disruptions and prevents the realization of a truly integrated digital economy.
Inuwa characterised the modern global landscape as an environment defined by high-velocity data processing and pervasive intelligent systems. He grounded this technical reality in a striking analogy, describing the cloud as the fundamental life-support system of the modern world. “In today’s reality, digital is no longer optional; it is a way of life,” Inuwa stated. “And the cloud is the oxygen that sustains that life. The question we must ask ourselves is: who controls that oxygen?”
The push for cloud sovereignty represents a move toward localised data residency and autonomous computational power. Inuwa stressed that without regional data centers and unified regulatory frameworks, African nations remain subject to the policy shifts of overseas providers. He advocated for a shift from siloed efforts toward a federated regional approach that pools resources to build a robust, self-sustaining African cloud.
The NITDA boss expressed concern over Africa’s limited share of global digital infrastructure. He noted that while the continent accounts for between 15% to 19% of the world’s population, it holds only about 0.6% of global data centre and computing capacity. He described this imbalance as a structural disadvantage that exposes African countries to risks around data security and economic dependency.
“This is not just a technology gap, it is a sovereignty gap,” Inuwa stated. “We are generating data, but we are not in control of how and where that data is stored, processed, or monetised.”
Despite these challenges, Inuwa highlighted Africa’s immense potential, pointing to its youthful population and fast-growing startup ecosystem. He stressed that achieving this vision requires coordinated action. “There is no single country in Africa that can do this alone,” he said. “We must collaborate and build shared infrastructure.”
Central to his recommendation is the creation of a “cloud of clouds” a federated ecosystem that connects national platforms into a unified network. Inuwa pointed to Europe’s Gaia-X as a reference model, noting that cloud sovereignty is about the capacity for self-determination. He concluded that developing indigenous cloud capacity could unlock significant economic opportunities, including job creation and improved digital services, securing Africa’s place in the global innovation ecosystem.
