Africa’s new coloniser does not carry a gun, but is more powerful and dangerous
Africa’s growing appetite for AI is developing alongside a heavy dependence on foreign digital infrastructure. Most data generated on the continent passes through cloud networks owned by companies headquartered elsewhere.
At the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s conference on «Transforming International Development Cooperation” in Nairobi early in the week, there was no shortage of excitement about the possibilities artificial intelligence (AI) could unlock for Africa.
Yet alongside the optimism ran a current of anxiety. Participants warned that AI could further widen the gap between Africa and the industrialised economies of Europe, North America and Asia. Terms such as “algorithmic colonialism”, “digital dependency, “data sovereignty,” and “cultural erosion” surfaced repeatedly.
