Experts are calling on Nigeria to accelerate the development of homegrown artificial intelligence tools to strengthen data privacy and protect Africa’s digital resources from external exploitation. The appeal was made at the AI Summit hosted by the Centre for Journalism, Innovation and Development on Wednesday in Abuja, where technology practitioners and policy specialists gathered to examine the continent’s vulnerabilities in the global data ecosystem.
Participants said Africa still lacks meaningful control over its online data, despite producing vast amounts of digital content used commercially by global technology companies.
Kiito Shilongo, senior tech fellow at the Mozilla Foundation, said the continent is “not compensated for the use of its data,” even though it contributes significant digital value worldwide. She stressed that compensation should go beyond monetary payments and must include African participation in shaping the digital products built using their contributions. “It’s not always economic,” she said, arguing that Africans must influence decisions on data use and the technologies that rely on it.
Shilongo added that stronger public awareness would help citizens understand their role in digital ecosystems and push for accountability from companies developing tools for African markets.
Dr. Oluwaseun Adepoju, managing partner at Co-Creation Hub, said data underpins every stage of the AI value chain and that local control is essential for long-term technological growth. Although Africans may consent to data use or request deletion, he said, the continent still lacks the infrastructure needed for a fully impactful AI ecosystem. Adepoju called for tighter enforcement of data protection laws and recommended value-based models such as community-led data-donation platforms, which would allow people to contribute intentionally while maintaining influence over how their data is used.
Seyi Olufemi, country director of Nubia AI, underscored the importance of linguistic inclusion to help Africans understand their rights related to data ownership and compensation. Improved data literacy, he said, would help people recognise the implications of sharing information across multiple sectors. He added that building local AI systems and African data centres would strengthen legal and policy control, supporting regulatory frameworks grounded in African contexts.
Kwabena Offei-Kwadey, IT manager at Quantum LC Company, said Africa must develop data systems that reflect its cultural and socio-economic identity. He noted that many AI tools fail to deliver suitable outputs because their training data does not adequately represent African languages, contexts or experiences. Offei-Kwadey urged governments and industry leaders to back innovators creating AI products rooted in African values, arguing that such investment would boost competitiveness and enable the continent to shape the global AI landscape on its own terms.
