Nigeria’s reliance on foreign cloud infrastructure costs the country an estimated $850 million annually, raising concerns about its ability to retain economic value from the growing artificial intelligence (AI) industry, Melanie Hui, chief executive officer of Luminate, has said.
Speaking at the Build 2026 Conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Hui called on Nigeria and other African countries to invest in local technology capacity and strengthen control over digital infrastructure, data and AI development.
She cited research commissioned by Luminate and conducted by the Global Centre on AI Governance, which estimated that Nigeria loses about $850 million annually through its reliance on cloud services provided by foreign companies.
The estimate highlights Africa’s position in the global AI value chain, where computing infrastructure, data centres, advanced chips, energy and specialised skills are concentrated in a limited number of companies and countries.
“Control over each of those layers translates into economic and political power,” Hui said in her keynote address, titled The Global AI Order: Towards Equitable Ownership and Shared Prosperity.
She said foreign technology investment does not automatically guarantee economic benefits for host countries, arguing that governments should assess whether such investments create jobs, develop local expertise and retain value within their economies.
“A country does not own its digital future when a data centre merely sits within its borders,” she said, questioning who controls the infrastructure, who can afford to use it, whose data it processes and where the resulting economic value goes.
Hui said African countries must move beyond consuming foreign technologies, supplying data and providing low-paid labour to developing and owning the systems that drive digital transformation.
She warned that countries without adequate infrastructure and skills risk missing out on productivity gains and economic opportunities as AI adoption expands across businesses and public services.
Nigeria’s AI ambitions also face infrastructure constraints, including unreliable electricity, slow internet connectivity and limited access to advanced chips and cloud computing, according to Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.
Tijani, who was represented at the conference by Olubunmi Ajala, national director of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, said the rapid pace of chip development and strong global demand were making it difficult for countries such as Nigeria to access the latest computing technology.
He said major technology companies had placed orders that chip manufacturers could struggle to fulfil, making it harder for countries seeking to expand their AI capacity to obtain the necessary hardware.
The minister said the government was proposing a data park near Egbin Power Station in Lagos to take advantage of available electricity-generation capacity and support AI infrastructure.
“We are going to build a data park in Egbin, where you can still get about 60 percent unutilised capacity of power to generate or to support it,” he said, adding that the proposed facility would serve Nigeria and other West African markets, including Togo.
Hui said Nigeria could strengthen its position in the AI value chain by developing local expertise, supporting domestic technology companies and increasing the participation of local businesses and researchers.
She cited an initiative in India that used AI to predict the onset of the monsoon for about 40 million farmers, showing how local data and distribution systems could make the technology useful to communities.
The initiative used climate data and local meteorological records to deliver forecasts to farmers through text messages in local languages.
Hui said the example demonstrated that effective AI deployment depends not only on technology but also on reliable data, local adaptation and systems that deliver its benefits to users.
She also identified the limited representation of African languages in digital technologies as a barrier to adoption, warning that it could restrict access to education, healthcare, public information and economic opportunities.
With Africa accounting for about one-third of the world’s languages, she said AI systems that reflect local languages and contexts would be important to expanding participation in the digital economy.
Hui also called for stronger data governance to protect individuals and communities from the misuse of personal information by technology companies.
She said data governance should be based on consent, safety and dignity, particularly as governments and businesses deploy AI-enabled systems across essential services.
She rejected the argument that regulation necessarily slows innovation, saying competition, safeguards and accountable institutions were needed to ensure technological development benefits society.
Hui cited action by Nigeria’s competition authority against Meta over data exploitation and discriminatory practices as an example of how national institutions could hold global technology companies accountable. She also pointed to the recognition of an e-hailing trade union in Nigeria as an example of efforts by digital economy workers to strengthen their bargaining power.
Osasuyi Dirisu, executive director of the Policy Innovation Centre, said Build 2026 was convened to advance three priorities—infrastructure, economics and digital sovereignty—that would shape Africa’s AI development and position in the global industry.
“Build 2026 provides a multi-stakeholder platform to advance African priorities in global AI governance and foster partnerships that support an inclusive and competitive AI ecosystem across the continent,” Dirisu said.
Hui called on governments, investors, technology companies, civil society organisations and development partners to build an AI ecosystem that develops local capabilities while allowing countries to benefit from international partnerships.
She said such partnerships should ensure that investments generate value within host countries rather than deepen technological dependence.
Hui added that Africa’s population, markets, languages and cultures could contribute to the development of future AI systems. However, she warned against treating people and communities merely as sources of data from which technology companies generate products and profits.
“‘Data is the new oil’ is a fair but tired claim. Data is much more than this. It is people’s identities, behaviours, relationships and lives. We must ground its use in dignity, consent, safety and the public good,” she said.
Build 2026 was convened by the Nigeria AI Collective, a multi-stakeholder initiative promoting a locally driven approach to AI development in line with Nigeria’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy.
The Collective brings together stakeholders from government, academia, civil society, technology and policy, with the Policy Innovation Centre serving as its coordinating organisation.
The conference focused on infrastructure, economics and digital sovereignty as priorities for strengthening Africa’s position in the global AI industry.
Wasiu Alli is a business, economics cum data journalist with strong expertise covering macro trends, capital markets, government policies, corporate earnings and comparative economics analysis. Alli turns raw data into trends that not only tells compelling stories but nudges investors to make valued and informed decisions. He’s an alumnus of Lagos State University and trained at Lagos Business School. He formerly heads the Companies and Markets desk at BusinessDay where he writes and supervises the production of well researched articles on earnings updates, corporate sectoral comparisons, market intelligence as well as interviews with C-suite executives.
