Datacloud Africa Agenda

Across West Africa, governments, telecom operators, cloud and data centre developers, energy partners and investors are accelerating efforts to expand digital infrastructure, unlock new economic value and strengthen digital sovereignty. From national broadband plans and open access fibre policies to hyperscaler interest, AI-ready data centres, satellite integration and hybrid power solutions, the region is rapidly moving from planning to execution.

But as infrastructure builds multiply, key questions remain:

• How can governments create regulatory frameworks and incentives that attract long-term capital while protecting consumers and national interests?

• What roles should operators, fibre and tower companies play in delivering ubiquitous, affordable connectivity across urban and peri-urban markets?

• Where are cloud platforms and hyperscalers signalling real demand, and how can this translate into viable data centre ecosystems?

• What are the practical models that align energy, power and sustainability priorities with large-scale digital infrastructure builds?

• How can investors and development partners best structure bankable projects that account for policy risk, power constraints and demand realities?

• And what mechanisms can strengthen cross-sector collaboration so that connectivity and compute investments reinforce each other rather than operate in silos?