African experts call for digital sovereignty and AI job integration

Experts and policymakers are urging African nations to invest in digital infrastructure and local human capital to secure control over artificial intelligence and its economic benefits.

Speaking at the 11th MOBEX Africa Innovation Conference, Estelle Akofio-Sowah, Chair of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) Governing Board, emphasized that digital sovereignty requires more than just data localization. She stated that the continent must develop local capacity to manage, secure, and monetize digital assets through investments in fiber networks, resilient data centers, reliable power, and computing capacity.

At a BUILD 2026 panel in Abuja, technology experts also highlighted the need to link AI training directly to employment. Olayinka Iyinlokan, founder of the Centre for the Digitisation of Indigenous African Languages, warned that African languages are underrepresented in AI datasets, noting that many systems used on the continent were not trained to recognize them. He advocated for the development of homegrown foundation models for sectors like banking and healthcare to avoid total dependence on external technologies.