Digital Colonialism: Who Controls Africa’s Data?

Africa’s digital transformation is creating a new strategic contest over something increasingly valuable: data. As governments, banks, businesses and citizens move more services online, the infrastructure storing and processing African information is becoming an important economic and national-security asset.

The debate is no longer only about internet access. It is increasingly about who owns data centres, who controls cloud platforms, where sensitive information is stored, which laws govern it and who ultimately benefits from the digital economy.

Africa’s data-centre industry is expanding rapidly, but capacity remains concentrated in a small number of markets. South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria are among the continent’s major digital infrastructure hubs, while much of Africa still depends on offshore hosting and foreign technology platforms. The Africa Data Centres Association estimates that the continent has only about 0.6% of global data-centre capacity.

South Africa illustrates both the opportunity and the problem. It hosts major cloud and hyperscale infrastructure operated by companies including Microsoft, Google and Amazon Web Services. Kenya and Nigeria have also become important centres for data-centre investment and cloud services. This infrastructure can improve connectivity, support artificial intelligence and attract investment, but ownership and control can remain separated from the countries where the infrastructure is physically located.

That distinction matters because data is becoming a strategic resource.

A government may host critical information inside its territory while still relying on foreign companies for the hardware, software, cloud computing, cybersecurity and technical management required to operate the systems. Foreign ownership can also expose digital infrastructure to the laws and regulatory requirements of the countries where parent companies are headquartered.

This has led to growing concern about what analysts describe as digital dependency. Africa could expand its digital economy while remaining dependent on external companies for the infrastructure needed to operate it.

The situation is particularly important as artificial intelligence develops. AI requires enormous amounts of computing power, data-centre capacity and electricity. Countries that control these systems can have greater influence over how digital economies develop, while countries that merely provide data or host infrastructure may capture a smaller share of the value.

For Tanzania, the issue is becoming increasingly relevant.

The country has already taken steps toward stronger data governance. In March 2026, Tanzania validated its Electronic Data Governance Strategy, designed to strengthen governance of data as part of the country’s wider digital transformation agenda.

Tanzania also has a Personal Data Protection Act, 2022, and an independent Personal Data Protection Commission responsible for regulating the collection, processing, storage, disclosure and transfer of personal data. The Commission reported 15,146 registered organisations and 121 data-transfer permits by August 2026.

The government has additionally introduced 2026 rules governing public data centres, covering licensing, services to foreigners, management of public data centres and personal-data protection.

Tanzania’s digital infrastructure is also expanding. Government figures presented in May 2026 indicated that the National ICT Broadband Backbone had reached 15,167 kilometres, while the country had four active submarine cables landing in Dar es Salaam, six internet exchange points and five data centres capable of hosting mission-critical systems. (TCRA)

These developments provide a foundation, but digital sovereignty requires more than building data centres.

Tanzania will need to consider who owns critical infrastructure, where government data is stored, how foreign cloud providers are regulated, how cross-border transfers are controlled, and whether domestic companies can develop enough capacity to compete in strategic digital sectors.

The wider African challenge is even larger. A continent with limited data-centre capacity and heavy dependence on foreign cloud and technology companies risks becoming a major producer of digital information without capturing equivalent economic value from that information.

The answer does not necessarily mean rejecting foreign investment. Foreign capital and technology have played an important role in expanding Africa’s digital infrastructure. The strategic issue is whether partnerships build African capability or create permanent technological dependence.

Digital sovereignty should therefore be treated as a national-security and economic-policy issue. Governments need comprehensive strategies covering data ownership, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, AI computing, local skills, domestic investment and cross-border data transfers.

For Tanzania, developing a clear digital sovereignty strategy could help ensure that the country’s growing digital economy does not simply become another market for foreign technology companies, but becomes infrastructure that supports domestic innovation, industrial development and national interests.

The new contest for Africa may not only be over minerals, military bases or political influence.

It may increasingly be over who controls the data on which Africa’s future economy will depend.