Africa's digital future is being written in rooms where the continent barely has a seat. That was the core warning from Ghana's Communications, Digital Technology & Innovation Minister Samuel Nartey George on November 3, 2026, as he addressed the closing ceremony of the 2026 African School of Internet Governance (AfriSIG), held at the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT in Accra.
George's message was blunt: unless African nations dramatically increase their participation in global digital policy-making and invest in their own infrastructure, the continent will stay locked into a pattern of consuming technologies and rules designed without it in mind.
"Africa must move beyond being a consumer of technologies and policies developed elsewhere and become an active participant in setting global digital standards." — Minister Samuel Nartey George
The AI Representation Problem
George specifically flagged artificial intelligence as an area of urgent concern. AI systems built without sufficient African data, languages, and perspectives, he argued, risk misrepresenting the continent entirely — and deepening inequalities that already exist. It is a problem that is been raised across global AI governance debates, but rarely with this level of political urgency from an African minister at a continental forum.
He called for coordinated African positions at major international institutions including the Internet Governance Forum, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and other global standard-setting bodies. The goal is not just representation for its own sake — it is ensuring that Africa's 1.4 billion people, the majority of them young, are not governed by rules they had no hand in writing.
Infrastructure, Skills, and Accountability
Beyond the policy tables, George stressed the need for real investment on the ground: digital skills, computing capacity, data infrastructure, and local innovation ecosystems. He also emphasized the importance of strong data protection and accountability frameworks — the kind of structures that make meaningful participation in the global digital economy possible.
Ghana's own One Million Coders Programme was cited as a concrete step in that direction, aimed at equipping young Ghanaians with practical skills for the digital economy. The minister pointed to Africa's youthful population not as a challenge, but as a strategic asset — one that could shift the continent's weight in global tech governance if properly invested in.
AfriSIG and a Personal Connection
George's presence at AfriSIG was not just ministerial duty. He himself attended the 2023 AfriSIG programme in Abuja, Nigeria, giving his remarks a personal dimension. He commended the programme's convenors and partners for the work they are doing to build internet governance expertise across the continent — a pipeline of African professionals who can hold their own in international digital policy arenas.
Addressing the 2026 cohort of AfriSIG graduates directly, George urged them to take their training home and apply it — to shape digital policy, regulation, and inclusive internet governance in their own countries. The subtext was clear: Africa needs trained people in the right rooms, not just ministers making speeches.
A Continent's Seat at the Table
As chair of the African Union's Specialised Technical Committee on Communication and ICT, George said he is personally committed to advancing Africa's position in international digital engagements. That role gives his remarks institutional weight beyond Ghana's borders.
The broader concern about digital sovereignty and data governance is one African policymakers have been raising for years. But the 2026 AfriSIG closing, with a sitting minister framing it as a continental emergency, signals a sharper political urgency. Whether coordinated action follows across AU member states remains the real test.