Who Owns Africa's Data? Digital Colonialism Explained

Who Owns Africa's Data? Digital Colonialism Explained

In the 19th century, European powers carved up Africa to extract its gold, diamonds, rubber, and labor.

In the 21st century, the extraction continues—but now the resource is data.

Every WhatsApp message sent in Lagos. Every Google search in Nairobi. Every Facebook post in Johannesburg. Every mobile money transaction in Accra.

All of it flows to servers owned by American and Chinese companies, stored on foreign soil, processed by foreign algorithms, monetized by foreign shareholders.

Africa generates the data. Silicon Valley captures the value.

This is digital colonialism—and it's happening right now.

The New Scramble for Africa

What Is Digital Colonialism?

Digital colonialism refers to the dominance of foreign technology companies over the data, digital infrastructure, and technological autonomy of other nations.

The parallels to historical colonialism are striking:

The scramble for Africa never ended. It just went digital.

The Scale of Extraction

Nigeria alone had over 107 million internet users as of early 2025. Africa as a whole has roughly 570 million internet users—and growing rapidly.

Every one of those users generates data:

• Search queries

• Social media posts

• Location data

• Purchase history

• Health information

• Financial transactions

• Biometric data

This data trains AI systems, targets advertisements, and generates billions in revenue—for companies headquartered in California, not Calabar.

Where Does African Data Go?

The Infrastructure Gap

As of mid-2025, Africa has approximately 223 data centers across 38 countries. That sounds like progress—until you compare:

Distribution within Africa:

• South Africa: 56 data centers

• Kenya: 19

• Nigeria: 17

• Remaining 35 countries: ~130 combined

Most African countries have zero major data centers. Their citizens' data is stored thousands of miles away.

Where African Data Actually Lives

When a Nigerian uses Gmail, their emails sit on Google servers—likely in the United States.

When a Kenyan uploads photos to Facebook, those images are stored on Meta servers—probably in Europe or the US.

When a South African business uses Microsoft Azure, their corporate data lives on Microsoft infrastructure—governed by American law.

A 2021 study found that 80% of health data platforms in Nigeria were hosted on cloud servers outside Nigerian territory. The country had no legal jurisdiction over its own citizens' medical records.

This pattern repeats across the continent:

• Government data on foreign clouds

• Financial records on foreign servers

• Educational data controlled by foreign companies

• Personal information subject to foreign laws

Who Controls the Pipes?

Undersea Cables

Africa connects to the global internet through undersea fiber optic cables. These cables carry 99% of intercontinental data traffic.

Key cables serving Africa:

• Equiano (Google): Connects West Africa to Europe

• 2Africa (Meta): Circles the entire continent, connecting 16 African countries

• WACS, SAT-3, MainOne: Older cables serving various regions

In March 2024, three undersea cables (WACS, MainOne, and ACE) failed simultaneously, plunging West and Central Africa into near-blackout. Banks, hospitals, telecoms, and government services were crippled.

The incident exposed a critical vulnerability: Africa's digital economy depends on infrastructure it doesn't control.

Google and Meta frame their cable investments as philanthropy—connecting Africa to the world. But the real goal is increasing their user base. More connectivity means more users, more data, more ad revenue.

As one analyst noted: the cables benefit Big Tech first, Africa second.

5G Networks

Chinese company Huawei has built an estimated:

• 80% of Africa's 3G network infrastructure

• 70% of all 4G networks

• And is competing to build most 5G networks

This creates a different kind of dependency. African governments must trust that Huawei (and by extension, the Chinese government) won't use this infrastructure for surveillance or manipulation.

Western governments have warned African leaders about these risks. But African governments, constrained by budgets, often have little choice—Huawei's prices are simply lower than Western alternatives.

The Data Extraction Business Model

How Big Tech Profits from African Data

Step 1: Provide "free" services

Google, Meta, and others offer search, social media, email, and cloud storage at no cost to users.

Step 2: Collect data

Every interaction generates data—what you search, who you message, where you go, what you buy.

Step 3: Process and analyze

Algorithms turn raw data into valuable insights: consumer preferences, behavioral patterns, predictive models.

Step 4: Monetize

This processed data powers targeted advertising worth hundreds of billions of dollars annually. It also trains AI systems that Big Tech sells to enterprises worldwide.

Step 5: Repeat

The more users, the more data, the more valuable the platform becomes.

Who captures the value?

The "free" services aren't free—users pay with their data, which is worth far more than any subscription fee.

AI Colonialism

The next frontier is artificial intelligence—and Africa is already behind.

AI systems require massive amounts of data to train. The companies with the most data build the best AI. The best AI attracts more users. More users generate more data.

This creates a winner-take-all dynamic where whoever has the data today dominates tomorrow.

Current reality:

• AI models are trained primarily on Western data

• They reflect Western perspectives, languages, and values

• African languages are barely represented

• African contexts are poorly understood

When an African uses ChatGPT or Google's AI, they're using a system trained on someone else's data, reflecting someone else's worldview.

As the Pan-African Parliament warned in July 2025: Africa risks becoming a "digital colony" unless it takes ownership of its data and AI.

The Sovereignty Problem

What Does Data Sovereignty Mean?

Data sovereignty is the principle that data is subject to the laws of the country where it's collected—and that citizens and governments have rights over their own data.

For most African countries, this principle exists in theory but not in practice.

The challenges:

1. No local storage: Data physically sits in foreign countries

2. No legal jurisdiction: Foreign laws govern how data is used

3. No regulatory capacity: Governments lack technical expertise to enforce rules

4. No alternatives: Switching away from Big Tech is nearly impossible

Real-World Consequences

National security:

Government communications on foreign platforms can be accessed by foreign intelligence agencies. The NSA revelations showed that US agencies routinely access data stored by American companies.

Law enforcement:

African police investigating crimes often can't access evidence stored on foreign servers. They must request data through slow diplomatic channels—assuming cooperation is granted at all.

Economic development:

African startups compete against global giants who have infinite data advantages. Local AI development is stunted because the training data flows elsewhere.

Policy autonomy:

When your data infrastructure is foreign-owned, your policy options are limited. Nigeria has demanded Google, Microsoft, and Amazon build local data centers for years—the companies have largely ignored these requests.

Fighting Back: African Responses

Data Protection Laws

As of 2025, approximately 36 of 54 African countries have formal data protection laws. This is progress—but enforcement remains weak.

Notable frameworks:

• South Africa's POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013): One of Africa's strongest data protection laws

• Kenya's Data Protection Act (2019): Restricts data transfer outside Kenya without safeguards

• Nigeria's NDPR (Nigeria Data Protection Regulation, 2019): Requires local storage of certain data

The problem: laws mean little when you can't enforce them against trillion-dollar foreign companies.

Data Localization Demands

Several African countries are demanding that Big Tech store data locally:

Nigeria (2024-2025):

• Demanded Google, Microsoft, and Amazon set concrete deadlines for opening local data centers

• Set up working groups with the companies

• Director-General of NITDA: "We told them no more waivers—we need a road map"

Result so far: Microsoft has deployed "edge nodes" in Nigeria, but no full data center commitment.

Other countries including Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt are making similar demands, with mixed results.

Building Local Data Centers

Some African governments are taking matters into their own hands:

Government-built data centers:

• Rwanda has invested heavily in national data infrastructure

• Kenya is building sovereign cloud capacity

• South Africa hosts the continent's most developed data center market

The challenge: Data centers require massive power supply. Nigeria's 17 data centers need around 137 megawatts—but the national grid provides only about 4 hours of reliable power daily.

Many data centers run on diesel generators, raising costs and emissions.

Regional Coordination

The African Union has developed frameworks for continental data governance:

• AU Digital Transformation Strategy (2020-2030): Promotes local data infrastructure

• AU AI Strategy (2024): Emphasizes African control over African data

• Smart Africa Alliance: Coordinates digital development across member states

The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) demonstrates what regional coordination can achieve: a payment system that keeps transaction data within Africa rather than routing through European or American banks.

The Data Center Boom

$9.15 Billion Opportunity

Africa's data center market is projected to reach $9.15 billion by 2029. This represents both an opportunity and a risk.

Opportunity: Investment is flooding in to build African data infrastructure.

Risk: If that infrastructure is foreign-owned, Africa may simply trade one form of dependency for another.

Who's Investing?

Big Tech:

• Google launched a "cloud region" in South Africa

• Microsoft is building through a partnership with G42 (UAE)

• Amazon Web Services operates in South Africa

Chinese companies:

• Huawei provides data center technology across the continent

• Chinese firms offer cheaper alternatives to Western providers

African companies:

• Raxio Group (backed by IFC) is building data centers from Ethiopia to DRC

• Local operators are emerging in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya

The Sovereignty Trap

As New America Foundation researchers noted: African governments face what appears to be a choice between sovereignty (assert control, risk deterring investment) and growth (accept foreign investment, risk dependency).

But this is a false binary. The real question is: on whose terms?

Countries that negotiate well can achieve both growth and sovereignty. Countries that don't may end up with infrastructure that sits on African soil but remains governed elsewhere—proximity without control.

Lessons from Other Regions

India's Digital Public Infrastructure

India built its own digital infrastructure rather than relying entirely on Big Tech:

• Aadhaar: Biometric identity system with 1.3 billion users

• UPI (Unified Payments Interface): Processes over 10 billion transactions monthly

• DigiLocker: Secure document storage and sharing

Key features:

• Based on open standards

• Interoperable layers that work together

• Locally governed—India controls how identity, payments, and data work

India remains globally connected but retains domestic control. This model shows that large populations + digital infrastructure = scale and national value.

European Union's Data Act

The EU Data Act (effective September 2025) focuses on:

• Empowering users to access and control data they generate

• Regulating contractual imbalances with Big Tech

• Facilitating data portability between services

• Restricting misuse of data

The EU approach shows you can shape the rules of the digital economy through law—without building national firewalls or blocking foreign companies entirely.

China's Approach

China took the most aggressive approach:

• Built the "Great Firewall" blocking foreign platforms

• Nurtured domestic champions (Baidu, WeChat, Alibaba)

• Maintains total control over data within its borders

This comes with significant costs to freedom of expression and internet openness—costs most African countries are unwilling to pay.

What Africa Must Do

Short-Term: Enforce Existing Laws

African governments already have data protection laws. They need to:

• Fund regulatory agencies properly

• Train technical staff to understand digital issues

• Impose meaningful penalties on violators

• Coordinate regionally to increase leverage

Medium-Term: Invest in Local Infrastructure

The goal isn't to ban foreign companies—it's to ensure Africa has alternatives:

• Build sovereign cloud capacity for government data

• Support local data center development with power and connectivity

• Create regulatory sandboxes for African tech companies

• Develop continental data infrastructure through AU frameworks

Long-Term: Build Data Capacity

Sovereignty isn't just about where data is stored—it's about who can use it:

• Train African data scientists and AI researchers

• Develop African AI systems trained on African data

• Create data cooperatives where communities collectively control their information

• Negotiate collectively with Big Tech rather than country-by-country

The DRC Model

The Democratic Republic of Congo supplies roughly 70% of the world's cobalt—essential for AI servers, smartphones, and electric vehicles.

Yet this mineral wealth has brought neither prosperity nor autonomy.

Data is the new cobalt. Unless Africa learns from the mineral extraction model, the same pattern will repeat: extract the resource, capture the value elsewhere, leave the source poorer.

The Stakes

Digital colonialism isn't just about technology—it's about power.

Whoever controls data controls:

• What information people see (and don't see)

• How AI systems behave (and for whose benefit)

• Where economic value accumulates (and who stays poor)

• What surveillance is possible (and by whom)

• How the future develops (and who shapes it)

If Africa's 1.4 billion people generate data that trains AI systems they have no stake in, those systems will serve foreign interests—not African ones.

If African governments can't access their own citizens' data, they can't provide services, enforce laws, or protect rights effectively.

If African entrepreneurs must compete against giants with infinite data advantages, local innovation will be crushed.

The Pan-African Parliament put it plainly: Africa must build "a secure, inclusive, sovereign digital and AI future" aligned with its own interests—or become a digital colony.

The old scramble for Africa took land and resources.

The new scramble takes data and autonomy.

The only question is whether Africa will fight back this time.

Key Statistics

Timeline: Digital Colonialism in Africa

FAQ: Digital Colonialism in Africa

1. What is digital colonialism?

The dominance of foreign technology companies over the data, digital infrastructure, and technological autonomy of other nations—extracting value from data the way colonial powers extracted physical resources.

2. Where is African data stored?

Most African data is stored on servers owned by American and European companies, primarily located outside Africa. South Africa is the only African country where Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have built their own data centers.

3. Why does data location matter?

Data stored in foreign countries is subject to foreign laws and can be accessed by foreign governments. African governments may have no legal jurisdiction over their own citizens' information.

4. What is data sovereignty?

The principle that data is subject to the laws of the country where it's collected, and that citizens and governments have rights over their own data.

5. How many African countries have data protection laws?

Approximately 36 of 54 African countries have formal data protection laws, though enforcement varies widely.

6. What infrastructure does Huawei control in Africa?

Huawei has reportedly built about 80% of Africa's 3G infrastructure and 70% of 4G networks.

7. What is Nigeria doing about this?

Nigeria has demanded that Google, Microsoft, and Amazon set deadlines for building local data centers and has established working groups to track progress.

8. How is India different?

India built its own digital public infrastructure (Aadhaar identity system, UPI payments) using open standards while remaining globally connected—maintaining sovereignty without isolation.

9. What did the AU do?

The African Union adopted a Digital Transformation Strategy (2020-2030) and AI Strategy (2024) promoting local data infrastructure and continental governance.

10. What happens if Africa doesn't act?

AI systems will be trained on data Africa doesn't control, reflecting perspectives that don't serve African interests. Economic value will continue flowing to foreign tech hubs while African innovation is disadvantaged.

Sources

• New America Foundation

• Rest of World

• TheCable Nigeria

• African Business

• Cambridge Core / Data & Policy

• Centre for International Governance Innovation

• Valdai Club

• Pan-African Parliament statements

• African Union Digital Transformation Strategy

• GSMA Mobile Economy reports