On Thursday, July 23, the International Conference Centre in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, was filled with the familiar language of telecommunications—spectrum, standards, cybersecurity, satellite networks—but beneath the technical vocabulary, something much larger was unfolding.

For perhaps the first time in decades, African ministers were not gathered to discuss how the continent could adopt the next wave of technology. They were debating how to influence it before someone else did.

Over two days at the African Telecommunications Union’s Conference of Plenipotentiaries, officials from across the continent argued that Africa has spent too long importing not only digital infrastructure, but also the rules that govern it. Now, they said, the continent wants to help write those rules itself.

“Our continent must not remain a passive consumer of technologies, standards and platforms developed without sufficient consideration for African priorities,” Sid Ali Zerrouki, Algeria’s minister of post and telecommunications, told delegates. “Africa must become a recognised architect of their design, governance and responsible use.”

The remarks reflected a broader shift across Africa. For years, discussions about the continent’s digital future centred on expanding internet access, building mobile networks and attracting investment from global technology companies.

Those goals remain important. But as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, satellites and cybersecurity become tools of economic power and geopolitical influence, African governments argue that the continent can no longer afford to simply implement rules written elsewhere.

That urgency drew ministers, regulators and technology leaders from across Africa to Abuja ahead of next year’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference in Doha, where countries will negotiate the standards and policies that increasingly shape how the world’s digital economy operates. For African policymakers, the timing matters: decisions made in those forums can affect how networks are built, how data is governed and how new technologies are deployed long before they reach consumers.

Africa’s push also reflects a wider change in how governments around the world view technology. Countries are no longer treating digital infrastructure as merely an engine for growth, but as a strategic asset that underpins national competitiveness, security and global influence.

India has invested heavily in building its digital public infrastructure, known as the India Stack. The European Union has become one of the world’s most influential digital regulators through laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), and the Digital Services Act. The United States and China increasingly treat semiconductors, AI and cloud computing as strategic assets as important as oil or military capability.

African governments say they cannot remain spectators.

“For too long, global technology policies have been developed without adequate representation of African priorities and perspectives,” Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima said in remarks delivered on his behalf by Senator Ibrahim Hadejia, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President. “That must change.”

The case for greater influence is becoming easier to make as Africa’s economic weight grows. According to the GSMA, mobile technologies generated about $220 billion in economic value across Africa in 2024, or roughly 8% of the continent’s GDP. Within five years, that figure is expected to rise to $270 billion.

The continent is also becoming the world’s youngest digital market. More than six out of every 10 Africans are under 25, creating what industry executives increasingly describe as the largest generation of digital consumers entering the global economy.

Taken together, that should give Africa influence. Individually, however, most African countries remain small players in international negotiations. That is why unity became a recurring theme in Abuja, where delegates repeatedly returned to the practical challenge of turning demographic and economic scale into coordinated positions on standards, regulation and infrastructure.

“We must continue to invest in technical preparation, strengthen regional cooperation and speak with one voice where our interests align,” Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, said.

Achieving that unity will not be easy. African countries approach technology governance from very different starting points. Some prioritise privacy and data protection, while others focus on attracting investment, encouraging innovation or expanding digital inclusion. Legal systems differ, economic interests diverge, and even data protection frameworks vary significantly between countries such as Nigeria and South Africa.

Economic priorities also divide the continent. Countries grappling with debt crises, including Zambia, Ghana and Ethiopia, pushed for more aggressive global debt restructuring, pressing both Western bondholders and bilateral lenders such as China for broader relief. By contrast, countries with stronger credit profiles, including Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Benin, took a more cautious stance. Keen to preserve access to international capital markets and avoid credit-rating downgrades, they resisted sweeping debt-relief demands that could unsettle investors.

The contrast underscored how differing economic realities often make it difficult for African countries to present a unified position, even when they face common structural challenges.

Still, speakers at the conference said the alternative—continuing to negotiate separately—would leave Africa reacting to rules written elsewhere.

The conference ended with delegates adopting the Abuja Declaration on Meaningful Connectivity, a roadmap that commits member states to expanding affordable internet access, strengthening cybersecurity, improving digital inclusion and coordinating more closely on technology policy ahead of the ITU conference in Doha. It also pointed to a more immediate task: turning political agreement into technical preparation before the next round of global negotiations begins.

Nigeria also left the conference with a more prominent diplomatic role. The country formally assumed the chairmanship of the Conference of Plenipotentiaries for the next four years, while Zambia’s Kezias Kazuba Mwale was elected the next Secretary-General of the African Telecommunications Union. More than routine leadership changes, the appointments reflected Africa’s growing determination to speak with greater influence in shaping the global digital agenda.

“Africa will not simply participate in the digital future,” Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the ITU, told delegates. “Africa will help shape it—not only as a consumer of technology, but as a creator, an innovator, a standard setter and a trusted global partner.”

Whether that ambition becomes reality remains uncertain.