Nigeria AI Collective Hosts Conference on Digital Infrastructure

The Nigeria AI Collective, under the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, hosted the BUILD Conference in Abuja from October 21 to 23, 2026. The conference was themed “Building Africa’s Shared Compute and AI Infrastructure” and brought together policymakers, students, researchers, journalists, innovators, and investors to discuss Africa's computing power for its AI future.

The discussions emphasized the need to break the cycle of digital imperialism, drawing parallels to Kwame Nkrumah's 1965 work on neo-colonialism. It was noted that three American companies (Amazon, Microsoft, and Google) control over 65 percent of global cloud capacity, while Africa, despite having 18 percent of the world's population, controls less than one percent.

This disparity threatens economic self-determination and undermines the independent press in Africa. The conference addressed the impact of foreign tech conglomerates on local news organizations, which have seen significant reductions in their operations due to reliance on external platforms for audience reach.