Africa is a strategic techno-geopolitical theatre. Will the continent’s leaders take advantage of this?

This research paper argues that African policymakers must proactively secure digital sovereignty to prevent the continent's digital economy from becoming a battleground for great-power competition. While Africa possesses significant digital potential with a market of over 1 billion people, it remains the least connected region globally and relies heavily on foreign infrastructure, leaving it vulnerable to the unilateral decisions of global tech giants and the geopolitical interests of major powers.

• Africa is a primary frontier for the geopolitics of digital technologies due to its vast digitization potential and a market exceeding 1 billion people, despite currently being the least connected region to the internet.
• Major geopolitical blocs and international organizations are competing for influence in Africa's digital space through various initiatives: China's "Digital Silk Road" (part of the Belt and Road Initiative), the US "Build Back Better World Initiative", the EU's "Global Gateway", the World Bank's "Digital Infrastructure Moonshot for Africa", and the UN's "Giga" enterprise.
• African countries lack sovereignty over their internet infrastructure, which is increasingly dominated by private global actors. Examples include Google's Equiano project (over 12,000km across West Africa), the Facebook-backed 2Africa subsea cable (landing in 15 African countries), and Huawei's potential dominance of cloud infrastructure and data centers.
• The war in Ukraine demonstrated that digital service providers are not neutral and can make unilateral decisions that restrict information flows, which could have significant ramifications for Africa if these companies also control the underlying infrastructure.
• Current policy trends in Africa are criticized as "analog policy posturing," where governments use cybersecurity laws and taxes (such as e-levies) to inhibit digital freedoms and control citizens rather than securing digital sovereignty and driving innovation.

APA

Sambuli, N. (2022). Africa is a strategic techno-geopolitical theatre. Will the continent’s leaders take advantage of this? Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/africa-is-a-strategic-techno-geopolitical-theatre-will-the-continents-leaders-take-advantage-of-this

Chicago

Sambuli, Nanjira. Africa is a strategic techno-geopolitical theatre. Will the continent’s leaders take advantage of this? Africa Policy Research Institute, 2022. https://afripoli.org/africa-is-a-strategic-techno-geopolitical-theatre-will-the-continents-leaders-take-advantage-of-this.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sambuli |first1=Nanjira |title=Africa is a strategic techno-geopolitical theatre. Will the continent’s leaders take advantage of this? |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=9 June 2022 |url=https://afripoli.org/africa-is-a-strategic-techno-geopolitical-theatre-will-the-continents-leaders-take-advantage-of-this |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sambuli2022africa, author = {Sambuli, Nanjira}, title = {{Africa is a strategic techno-geopolitical theatre. Will the continent’s leaders take advantage of this?}}, institution = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://afripoli.org/africa-is-a-strategic-techno-geopolitical-theatre-will-the-continents-leaders-take-advantage-of-this}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }