African Governments Confront AI Infrastructure Control Questions

Infrastructure negotiations intensify across the continent

African governments are grappling with a fundamental tension as they pursue artificial intelligence development: how to attract the foreign investment needed to build AI infrastructure while maintaining meaningful control over the systems that will shape their digital futures.

The issue came into focus in April when African Union ministers convened in Tangier, Morocco, to discuss AI strategy. While multiple countries—including Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and Ghana—have released national AI frameworks emphasizing local capacity, translating those ambitions into enforceable policy has proven challenging. South Africa withdrew a draft AI policy earlier this year after discovering unverified content that appeared to be AI-generated, according to reporting first published by Al Jazeera.

Forty-nine African countries and the African Union have endorsed the Africa Declaration on Artificial Intelligence, which calls for greater investment in homegrown AI infrastructure and coordinated financing mechanisms.

The data center deficit

Africa accounts for less than one percent of global data center capacity despite representing roughly 18 percent of the world's population. McKinsey research found that the continent's five largest data center markets combined hold less capacity than France alone. Unreliable electricity supply remains a major constraint across much of the region.

These infrastructure gaps help explain why negotiations over proposed developments have become increasingly contentious. A $1 billion data center project involving Microsoft and Emirati firm G42 in Kenya has drawn scrutiny after President William Ruto warned that the facility's energy demands would require substantial new power generation. Reports indicate ongoing discussions about commercial arrangements and long-term computing capacity commitments, though Kenyan officials say talks continue.

Beyond Western alternatives

Sanusha Naidu, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Global Dialogue, told Al Jazeera that debates about diversifying technology providers miss the larger point. "Whether it's a US company, a company from Europe, or a Chinese company," she said, policymakers must evaluate what developmental benefits these partnerships actually deliver.

Naidu compared current AI infrastructure debates to 1990s textile industry investments, noting that data centers are "much more intense" consumers of resources like water, with direct socioeconomic impacts on host countries.

Priyal Singh, a geopolitical analyst at Signal Risk, suggested that fragmentation among global AI leaders may strengthen African negotiating positions. "African states will indeed be provided with greater room for manoeuvre on AI and data infrastructure, precisely due to how contested and fragmented this industry is amongst global leaders," he told Al Jazeera.

The public trust gap

Joseph Asunka, chief executive of Afrobarometer, warned that AI governance discussions remain confined to elite circles. "These negotiations should not just be conducted at the elite level and dumped on citizens," he said. "If citizens do not trust their government's actions in this space, it creates a trust gap, which could have negative implications for the adoption of fintech, e-commerce and e-government tools."

Concerns about data protection and digital security are already widespread across African populations, even where AI itself is not yet widely understood.

Why it matters

Decisions African governments make now about AI infrastructure ownership and governance will determine whether the continent participates in the AI economy as a contributor or merely a consumer. With AI systems increasingly influencing public services, economic activity, and daily life, the terms of these partnerships carry implications that extend far beyond technology policy into questions of economic sovereignty that have shaped African politics since independence.

These details were first reported by Al Jazeera.