Africa’s AI future to be defined by data governance across the continent— Gyekye

Africa’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) future will be defined largely by the continent’s data governance, Akua Gyekye, government affairs director at Microsoft, has said, stressing that the continent’s digital future will be determined not only by how quickly AI spreads across the continent, but by how deliberately it governs and shares the data that powers it.

He noted that, across the continent, digital public infrastructure is expanding, connectivity is improving, and governments and businesses are increasingly exploring how emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence can support economic growth and public service delivery.

For Africa, the defining question is not only whether Africa participates in the AI economy, but whether value created from African data, talent, and deployment is captured within African economies.

At the centre of this challenge lies data. AI systems rely on data to learn, adapt, and generate value. African countries are increasingly recognising data as a form of strategic infrastructure, similar to energy grids, broadband networks, and cross-border financial systems.

Yet, across Africa, the governance structures that determine how data is shared, protected, and used remain fragmented. Without trusted and interoperable data systems, AI cannot scale responsibly across sectors or across borders.

Gyekye says there is strategic opportunities for progress, explaining that over the past decade, there has been significant progress in data governance across Africa.

“Current UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) data show that 76 percent of African countries have data protection and privacy legislation in place. That is significant progress, but progress alone will not be enough if governance remains fragmented,” he noted.

According to him, progress is being held back by persistent data silos and overly restrictive data localisation and cross-border transfer restrictions. These barriers can limit innovation, constrain economic growth, and reduce opportunities for cross-border collaboration at a time when scale is increasingly important.

“Unlocking trusted cross-border data flows, while respecting national sovereignty and privacy protections, will be critical to enabling a digital economy that works across borders, not just within them,” Gyekye suggested.

He said that the risk is not only slower adoption, but reduced influence over how AI systems are designed, trained, and deployed, adding that current data governance efforts across the continent also tend to focus heavily on data protection and privacy.

These are essential, but there needs to be an equal focus on enablers such as data portability, interoperability and responsible localisation, which are just as crucial to unlocking a robust, future-oriented digital economy.

Modern data sovereignty enables trusted cross-border participation while safeguarding rights. Without integrated data flows, African innovators, researchers, and public institutions risk being excluded from emerging digital value chains.

Many these chains are increasingly powered by AI systems and data-driven services, making ensuring trusted cross-border data flows essential if African innovators are to compete and scale regionally and globally.

Gyekye believes that smarter data governance can accelerate AI adoption, pointing out that, capitalising on the AI opportunity, the continent requires more harmonised policies and coordinated frameworks among member states.

“Regional integration will be essential to creating the scale required for AI innovation, digital services, and cross-border trade,” he said.

He noted that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and in particular its Digital Trade Protocol, has emerged as a key driver for strengthening regional efforts to enhance data governance and unlock the potential of digital trade.

Realising the promise of the AfCFTA – estimated to boost intra-Africa trade by over 50 percent, according to the African Union, depends on seamless, secure data flows across borders.

In a digital economy, trade increasingly depends not only on goods and services but on the ability of AI systems and cloud infrastructure to operate across interoperable data ecosystems.

Data flows are therefore becoming as important to trade as the movement of goods and services themselves. The question, then, is not whether Africa should follow an external model, but how it builds its own.

The priority is to develop African rules and institutions that support trusted data flows, reflect the continent’s market realities, and advance its own integration and development goals.

Gyekye disclosed that critical work is happening already, pointing out that the African Development Bank’s Africa Information Highway, a network of open data platforms connecting 54 African countries and 16 regional organisations, aims to strengthen data transparency, accountability and governance across the continent.

The African Union’s Data Policy Framework (AUDPF), the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol, and the AU’s Guidelines for Integrating Data Provisions in Protocols on Digital Trade provide an increasingly important continental foundation for more harmonised data governance, interoperability, and cross-border digital trade.