Nigeria’s digital economy is growing fast. The question is whether the infrastructure behind it will remain dependent on foreign cloud providers—or whether Africa can build its own sovereign digital future.

In this episode, Host Ville Wacklin speaks with Ibrahim Dikko, CEO of BCN, about the company’s ambitious plan to build a new data center campus and sovereign AI cloud infrastructure in Nigeria.

BCN’s vision goes beyond racks and servers: the goal is to turn digital assets into economic value while keeping more of Africa’s data, compute capacity and AI workloads on the continent.

The conversation explores why data sovereignty is becoming a strategic issue for governments, regulators, financial institutions and technology companies alike.

Ibrahim argues that AI has become sovereign infrastructure, raising fundamental questions about who controls critical digital systems and where national data should reside.

We also discuss:
✨ Why BCN is building a carrier-neutral data center campus outside Lagos
✨ The economics of sovereign AI and GPU infrastructure
✨ How local cloud platforms can compete with global hyperscalers
✨ Why financial institutions are becoming major drivers of AI demand
✨ Nigeria’s emerging data sovereignty regulations
✨ The role of national cloud policies in shaping digital infrastructure
✨ Balancing local data residency with international data sharing
✨ How Africa can reduce dependence on foreign technology platforms
✨ Why paying for cloud services in local currency matters
✨ What the African AI ecosystem could look like by 2030

The episode also examines the practical challenges of building sovereign cloud infrastructure—from financing and anchor tenants to regulatory support and national security considerations. Ibrahim explains why he believes the next few years will be decisive for Africa’s digital future and why countries that fail to develop their own AI capabilities risk becoming dependent on infrastructure they do not control.

This podcast is part of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Data Governance in Africa Initiative⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://d4dhub.eu/initiatives/data-governance-in-africa, a project that helps the African Union harmonise data policies, enables cross-border data flows, and supports secure, sustainable digital infrastructures across the continent. Funded by the EU, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France and Germany, it supports a unified digital market in Africa.

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