The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has asserted that Africa’s economic destiny depends on its “compute capacity,” describing it as the foundation for sustainable digital transformation, job creation, and intra-African trade.
Inuwa made this declaration at the 2nd Annual Sustainability Week Africa, held at The Westin in Cape Town, South Africa, where he spoke during a panel session on Digital Infrastructure for Jobs and Trade in Africa. He emphasized that strong investment in local digital public infrastructure is key to unlocking long-term transformation and achieving meaningful economic growth across the continent.
Highlighting the importance of digital independence, the NITDA boss noted that while Africa can leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to leapfrog development, it must also build the computing capacity required to sustain innovation and global competitiveness.
Drawing parallels with Europe’s collaborative approach to developing high-performance supercomputers and AI factories, Inuwa urged African governments to adopt similar models by creating policy incentives that encourage private sector investment in digital infrastructure.
He explained that Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) operates at two levels-the physical and technical infrastructure, such as connectivity and cloud capacity, and the functional layer, which includes digital identity, payment systems, and data exchange platforms that allow citizens and businesses to access services seamlessly.
Citing Nigeria’s progress, Inuwa revealed that more than 130 million Nigerians have been enrolled in the national digital identity system, adding that efforts are ongoing to establish a National Data Exchange Platform and a DPI Centre of Excellence to promote interoperability and best practices across government institutions.
“The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, is driving the establishment of a DPI Centre of Excellence, where experts will build core data exchange systems, APIs, and frameworks for best practices,” he said.
Inuwa also called for clear policy frameworks to guide AI adoption and technology development across Africa, describing digital transformation as “an enabler for every sector of the economy, not just a standalone industry.”
He concluded by advocating stronger collaboration among governments, the private sector, and development partners to harmonize digital standards and scale innovation across the continent.
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