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StatementComputeMediaFrontierNigeriaConfirmed

Luminate CEO says Africa must own AI infrastructure or risk a subordinate role

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Source: TechCabal

Melanie Hui, CEO of Luminate, told the Build 2026 Conference in Abuja on 21 October 2026 that Africa risks a subordinate role in the global AI economy unless it secures ownership of the infrastructure powering the technology. Nigeria reportedly loses millions of dollars a year through reliance on cloud infrastructure controlled by a handful of foreign big tech firms, according to Hui. She said research commissioned by Luminate from the Global Centre on AI Governance found that the undersea fibre-optic cables carrying Africa’s internet traffic closely mirror historical trade and extraction routes.

Why it matters

Hui argued that a country does not own its digital future when a data centre merely sits within its borders, and that the test is who controls it, who can afford to use it, what powers it, whose data it processes and where the economic value flows.

When
21 Oct 2026
ID
WTA-N-2026-0368
Where
Nigeria
Who
Luminate, Global Centre on AI Governance, Nigeria AI Collective; Melanie Hui, Rose Mutiso

Summary by wheresthe.ai, from TechCabal. Checked against the source on 22 Oct 2026.

Read the original at TechCabal

Source copy: download the page as saved on 22 Oct 2026 (PDF). Also held by the Internet Archive.

Cite this story

WTA-N-2026-0368: “Luminate CEO says Africa must own AI infrastructure or risk a subordinate role.” wheresthe.ai, 21 Oct 2026. https://wheresthe.ai/d/ng-luminate-ceo-says-africa-must-own-ai-infrastructure-or-ri-2026-10/ (source: TechCabal).

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