The global data centre map tells a blunt and uncomfortable story. Compute power is concentrated in the Global North, while Africa sits at the edge of a digital world it increasingly depends on. More than seventy percent of global data centre capacity is concentrated in North America, Europe, and East Asia. As a result, most African data is stored, processed, and governed outside the continent. In the AI era, data is power, compute is leverage, and proximity is advantage.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 05, 2026 15:39 UTC