Control over cutting-edge technology initiatives is power.

Attracting investment into your economy is always good news for economic growth and job creation. But repeating the mistake of the past is detrimental to the sovereignty of African states. African states must move beyond obsessing over the amount of investment they receive to the detriment of control, which is real power, especially in our current digital world where data is the new gold rush. (Link below of article on Cutting-edge technology)

Cutting-edge technology has become a critical field with the advent of artificial intelligence. A state responsible for its own data and the implementation of its own AI ecosystem will not be in slavery in the future. An artificial intelligence project must be a direct initiative from a state; 

Western leaders recently held an artificial intelligence summit in Paris; I haven't seen any African country as participant! Doesn't it sound like the Berlin Conference of 1884, where no African state was invited to attend?
(Link below of article on the risk of artificial intelligence)

Giving up the control of your data and AI implementation is like giving away your land and natural resources to others to manage, as is the case in most African states.

Let’s put it in perspective: you have your land, and you decide to farm it; you have to decide what you want to grow on that farm according to your vision and needs. Then you have the responsibility to bring in competent partners to help you choose the best crops and the technology to implement your project on the land. It’s must not be the other way around where the partner comes with their vision and plan, you give them the land, they farm, and pay you taxes (neo-colonialism works this way). You have no control over anything that happens on the farm, even who is going to be hired. And, on the R25 billions Microsoft’s investment, we’re talking about cloud and artificial intelligence development, this is massive! (Article link below)

Today, the South African government has no significant power over the giant mining companies; we all remember the Marikana debacle, where the state could not impose anything on mining companies on the wages of miners (mostly Black). Power is about control, not money; African states need to understand this dynamic. Saudi Arabia, Aramco is a state-owned enterprise. 
The change in the investment landscape in Africa is critical; hence, the insertion of active and close participation of the state as an initiator of projects, by creating appropriate cells for this purpose, especially in the technological field. Elon Musk has stated that by 2030, artificial intelligence will take over, so this is a clear warning for African states to take control of any investment related to cloud and artificial intelligence. 

Let’s be frank, investors are motivated by profit in a capitalist world, so investors' confidence is a blackmail; no matter the war that is going on in the DRC, mining companies continue their operations to extract cobalt and coltan. 
South Africa is the gateway to the African market, the most developed country in sub-Saharan Africa, sitting at BRICS. Knowing the potential that Africa is, South Africa is a must when it comes to investing in Africa. Let us not submit our sovereignty for fallacious reasons to give us mirrors in exchange of our gold.



Marius Yusuf M. C. Oula

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