The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has challenged African countries to move beyond policy discussions and take coordinated action to build the computing infrastructure needed to power the continent’s artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions.
Inuwa made the call during a panel session titled “Africa’s AI Compute Capacity — Sovereign or Shared” at GITEX Nigeria 2026, where technology leaders examined Africa’s capacity to develop and sustain the infrastructure required for AI innovation.
The NITDA boss said Africa’s computing challenge went beyond ownership of graphics processing units (GPUs), identifying technology ownership, reliable energy supply and digital infrastructure as critical foundations for closing the continent’s AI infrastructure gap
According to him, the enormous energy requirements of large-scale computing make reliable electricity one of Africa’s biggest obstacles to developing competitive AI infrastructure.
Inuwa also warned against fragmented efforts by African countries, urging governments across the continent to abandon silo-based approaches and embrace stronger regional collaboration.
He cited the European Union as an example of the benefits of regional cooperation and called for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to be leveraged to create a stronger and more integrated digital market.
Such integration, he said, would help attract greater investment in AI and computing infrastructure while enabling African countries to build capacity collectively.
The NITDA DG further stressed the importance of data classification in the continent’s quest for digital sovereignty, particularly as sensitive information in sectors such as defence, healthcare and finance requires stronger protection and clear jurisdictional safeguards.
He pointed to Nigeria’s Data Protection Act and recently issued sovereign cloud regulatory instruments as measures designed to establish clearer rules governing how different categories of data should be hosted, managed and protected.
Inuwa said Africa could no longer afford to remain trapped in endless conferences and policy conversations without translating its commitments into tangible infrastructure.
“We have had enough talk and conventions. What we need now is action, as nations and as a continent, to build the infrastructure that will secure our digital future,” he said.
He stressed that the continent’s ability to achieve meaningful AI sovereignty would ultimately depend on its capacity to build the physical and digital infrastructure required to develop, deploy and control AI technologies.
