MFI urges African nations to leverage AI to tackle challenges

The Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MFI), has called on African nations to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to tackle continent’s unique challenges.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MFI, Mr Armstrong Takang made the call at the 13th edition of the Digital Africa Conference on Data Sovereignty, on Tuesday in Abuja.

The two-day programme had the theme: ‘Sovereign Intelligence: Africa’s Voice in Global AI Order’.

Takang said that African nations must focus on using AI to solve their own peculiar problems rather than wait for others to solve to do it for them

“They focus on solutions and algorithms for problems that affects them the most; we got to solve our problems by ourselves.

“We have to come up with solutions that reflect our own cultural values, ” he said.

According to him, the multiplicity of dialects in the continent must be reflected.

“Our foods, our tastes buds are different.

“So, in this arena of AI, we need to begin to come up with solutions that reflect our own peculiarities because nobody else will do it for us, ” Takang said.

He recalled that 15 years ago, the MFI spearheaded an initiative for data sovereignty in local contents, insisting that government must generate policies that must reside within Nigeria.

According to Takang, most of the multinationals already have a 10, 15, 20 year-plan to harvest our data here in Nigeria and store in data centers in Europe and in the US.

The Chairman, Digital Africa, Dr Evans Woherem, in his speech, said the era of others making digital decisions for Africa must change.

“Africa has been a consumer of technology designed and controlled elsewhere.

“Our data is stored and used by others; our languages and cultures are from the global tables where decisions are made, this needs to change, ” he said.

Woherem said the theme of the event was a call to action, adding that it was about Africa taking and ensuring that technology works, not just working for others.

In his remark, the CEO of VDT Communications Ltd, Abiodin Omoniyi said that the conference had become a movement, shaping Africa’s voice in the global digital conversation.

“In today’s interconnected world, sovereignty is no longer just about physical borders; it is about control of our data, our digital infrastructure, and our innovation pathways.

“True independence now depends on how we harness technology to empower our people and drive inclusive growth,” he said.