The Rise of Digital Colonization: Who Really Owns Africa’s Internet?



 

Imagine you live in a village with dusty roads and no paved highway, but you can send a voice message via WhatsApp, stream music, and check a bank transfer. Then one day, the internet slows and then cuts off. Suddenly, you realize that something you thought belonged to you, your connection to the world, was never fully yours. That’s the shadow of digital colonization: when digital infrastructure, control, or profits are governed by forces outside local control.

This is not fiction. It’s real across Africa in 2025. Who builds the cables, who owns the data centers, and who sets the rules, and how does that shape power?

What Is “Digital Colonization”? 

To have a complete grasp of the concept of digital colonization, let's  look at it from three lines of reasoning;

(i) It means foreign corporations, governments, or private firms controlling internet infrastructure, fiber backbones, undersea cables, and data centers in ways that limit local control.
(ii) It may also mean surveillance, data extractive practices, unfair pricing, or regulations favorable to those external actors.

(iii) It’s a power play: whoever controls infrastructure and data can influence, profit, and even shut you off.

Real Examples in Africa

(i) Orange Djoliba Backbone: Orange (a French telecom) and its subsidiaries launched Djoliba, a pan-African backbone network. It connects 8 countries (Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal) with high-speed terrestrial fiber + undersea cables. TelecomDrive
On the surface, it looks like progress: reliable connectivity, better latency, more redundancy. But with foreign-owned or heavily foreign-financed infrastructure, decisions about pricing, access, upgrades, and regulation often favor profit or external strategic interests.

(ii)WIocc & Galaxy Backbone Partnership (Nigeria): Nigeria has a backbone optical fibre network: Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) operates ~1,482 km of fiber across 13 states. It’s partnering with WIOCC to boost broadband access to underserved regions. Developing Telecoms. Yet despite these local players, broadband penetration in Nigeria is still only ~41-42%, and many remote areas are still unserved or get unstable access, which suggests infrastructure alone isn’t enough; control, policy, investment, and maintenance matter.

(iii) CSquared, SEACOM, & Others: CSquared operates open-access broadband/infrastructure across multiple countries, with links to the Equiano subsea cable, among others. csquared.com  Also, SEACOM is one of the major submarine cable operators, serving many African countries with crucial bandwidth. seacom+1

(iv) Data Centers & Local Hosting Gaps: The World Bank’s IFC recently invested US$100 million in Raxio Group to build data centers across countries, including Ethiopia, Angola, DRC, Mozambique, and Uganda. This is part of reducing dependency on overseas hosting and speeding data access. Reuters . However, many African nations still send data overseas for storage to foreign servers, which adds delay, increases cost, and reduces local control over data security/privacy.

Why It Matters


                   
                           

(i) Dependency & vulnerability: If undersea cables are damaged or foreign firms cut service for commercial/political reasons, the impacted country has little recourse. Example: when certain subsea cables fail, multiple West African countries suffer from outages. Le Monde.fr+1

(ii) Cost & access: Foreign-owned infrastructure often sets pricing. Local ISPs and consumers may pay more than in other regions because of licensing fees, transit fees, or regulatory burdens.

(iii) Data governance & privacy: When data is stored or routed through foreign jurisdictions, legal protection is weaker. Data protection laws in many African countries are still catching up (e.g. AU’s Convention on Cyber Security is not fully implemented everywhere). arXiv

(iv) Digital sovereignty: Ownership means being able to decide where and how to build infrastructure, who regulates it, how profits are reinvested, and ensuring equitable access.

Threats Hidden in the Promise

(i) Blackouts and shutdowns: Even when infrastructure exists, governments (or external owners) can enforce shutdowns. In 2024, Africa saw 21 internet shutdowns across 15 countries, often during elections or unrest. The Guardian

(ii) Monopolies or oligopolies: Big backbone operators or cable owners can limit competition, making local ISPs dependent, especially in remote or rural zones.

(iii) Lack of infrastructure in marginalized areas: Towns and rural areas often get inferior service; sometimes, pricing makes installation unviable.

(iv) Foreign policy and geopolitical leverage: Countries or companies controlling cables/data centers can have soft leverage over African states.

What Local Control Looks Like

To avoid becoming digital colonies, here are indicators of healthy sovereign control: 

(a) Strengthened local backbone ownership (public/private but with local participation).

(b) Local data centers and cloud services, with regulations that favor local hosting. 

(c) Transparent regulation and pricing for ISPs. 

(d) Laws that protect data privacy and digital rights. 

(e) Network redundancy (e.g., multiple cable paths) so that cuts or failures don’t isolate regions.

What Can Be Done: Recommendations 

#1. Policy and regulation reform: Governments should mandate open access to backbone infrastructure to prevent monopolies. Data protection laws must be enforced with penalties. 

#2. Public-private partnerships (with local stakeholders): Encourage joint ventures that ensure local ownership and profit sharing. Encourage local firms to manage or co-own critical infrastructure. 

#3. Invest in local infrastructure: There is a need for more data centers domestically. Build fiber to rural areas. Utilize domestic undersea cable landings to reduce transit costs.

#4. Promote digital literacy and advocacy: Citizens should be aware of their digital rights. Civil society can monitor shutdowns, pricing abuses, and surveillance.

#5. Regional cooperation: Countries pooling resources for shared backbone projects (Djoliba is one such example) improve efficiency. Regional regulatory harmonization to prevent digital barriers at borders.

Conclusion

Digital colonization might sound like a buzzword, but it’s already shaping the lives of millions across Africa. When you can’t afford high data, when your data is stored abroad, and when a cable break plunges you into silence,, it shows who holds power in the digital era.

Ownership of the internet isn’t just technical; it’s political. It determines who can speak, what can be accessed, how fast, and at what cost.

Africa has the chance to rewrite this narrative: to gain digital sovereignty, demand fair infrastructure, ensure data privacy, and build a digital future where the internet is not just accessible but owned, controlled, and used for the people who need it most.

*****By SB Adams

📚 Works Cited 

Achebe, Chinua. The Trouble with Nigeria. Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishing, 1983.

“Djoliba Backbone: Orange Unveils First Pan-African Network.” TelecomDrive, 12 Nov. 2020, https://telecomdrive.com/orange-unveils-djoliba-the-first-pan-african-backbone.

“Galaxy Backbone, WIOCC to Boost Nigerian Broadband Infrastructure.” Developing Telecoms, 16 Feb. 2025, https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/optical-fixed-networks/17705-wiocc-galaxy-backbone-to-boost-nigerian-broadband-infrastructure.html.

“Infrastructure Breakdowns Leave West Africa Disconnected.” Le Monde Africa, 15 Mar. 2024, https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-africa/article/2024/03/15/internet-outage-hits-several-african-countries-as-undersea-cables-fail_6621444_124.html.

International Finance Corporation. “IFC Backs Africa’s Digital Data Push with US$100 Million Raxio Deal.” Reuters, 3 Apr. 2025, https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/world-bank-backs-africa-digital-data-push-with-100-million-raxio-deal-2025-04-03.

Kwet, Michael. “Digital Colonialism: The Evolution of US Empire.” Race & Class, vol. 60, no. 4, 2019, pp. 3–26.

Noble, Safiya Umoja. Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. NYU Press, 2018.

“Internet Shutdowns in Africa Reach Record High in 2024.” The Guardian, 9 Mar. 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/09/internet-shutdowns-record-high-africa-2024-access-weaponised.

“Towards African Data Sovereignty: Challenges and Opportunities.” arXiv, July 2023, https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.01966


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Social Sciences Are Far From Obsolete: Lessons From My International Relations Studies in the UK

Image
In a recent Facebook post, a social commentator argued that social science courses like sociology, anthropology,  political science, and international relations among others are no longer relevant in today’s labor market, emphasizing the need for tangible and technical skills to survive the 21st-century economy. This has caused ripples and elicited mixed reactions from many quarters, especially on social media platforms. While his concern about the employability of graduates including those who studied non-social science courses (my emphasis)  is valid, particularly in Nigeria's saturated labor market, dismissing the relevance of social sciences reflects a misunderstanding of their role in addressing societal needs. Because employability challenges in Nigeria transcend disciplines; even technical fields like engineering are not exempt, as evidenced by cases like the Dangote Refinery’s reliance on foreign technicians. The deeper problem here is the disconnect between the produc...
Read more

Top 20 Websites Every NGO Job Seeker Should Bookmark Today

Image
For many unemployed graduates, the dream of securing a stable government job or landing a well-paying role in the private sector often clashes with harsh realities. Opportunities are limited, competition is fierce, and thousands of young people find themselves underemployed or excluded from the workforce altogether.  But there’s another path, one that is often overlooked: the NGO sector . Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play a crucial role in tackling global challenges such as poverty, inequality, human rights abuses, health crises, and climate change. In Nigeria alone, every geopolitical zone faces peculiar socio-economic issues from insurgency in the North-East to flooding in the South-South, which attract NGO interventions. This creates thousands of job opportunities for skilled professionals who are willing to make a difference. Unfortunately, many job seekers don’t know where to begin their NGO job search. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of 20 trusted websites you shou...
Read more

Top 60 Career-Building Online Courses and Certifications to Enhance Your Job Prospects

Image
  Online learning has completely transformed the way we develop skills, breaking down barriers and offering everyone from students to professionals a flexible and cost-effective path to career success. Imagine this: a friend of mine recently landed a high-paying job with a prestigious institution in the United States, all without the "right connections." While many were shocked, the secret to his success was simple yet profound. Instead of idling away his time, he dedicated himself to online training programs, earning certifications that complemented his university degrees. When the job opening was advertised, he confidently submitted his application. The hiring firm was impressed by his qualifications and skills, as demonstrated by those certifications. Today, he and his family have relocated to the U.S., enjoying the fruits of his commitment to self-improvement.  But here’s the kicker: he’s not alone. Thousands of people are working for top global companies, many from the ...
Read more