---
sheet_format: 1.0
id: 2024-11-atda-abidjan-cloud-continent
title: "Cloud : où en est le continent ?"
title_en: "Cloud: where does the continent stand?"
speaker: Erwan Rougeux
with: [Habibata Sanidié Touré (Groupe Défis & Stratégies, moderator), Didier Kla (Orange Business), Amadou Merico (Le Cloud Facile)]
date: 2024-11-20
event: "ATDA 2024 — Assises de la Transformation Digitale en Afrique"
place: "Radisson Blu, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire"
format: panel
language: fr
duration: "2:55:20"
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q
slides: null
topics: [africa, digital sovereignty, cloud strategy, pan-african cooperation, ai bias, training, partnerships]
source: "Summary written by Claude (AI) from the auto-generated YouTube captions of CIO Mag's full day-one recording (the talk runs from 1:37:42 to 2:11:50; Erwan speaks from 1:55:48). Three voices; Erwan's contribution is attributed from context (the moderator introduces him). Not a verbatim transcript; check the recording before quoting."
review: none
---

# Cloud : où en est le continent ?

**In one sentence:** Asked what he would advise African decision-makers on cloud strategy, Erwan Rougeux answers: sovereignty first, a pan-African vision to share costs, co-investment with local companies, training, start-ups, and an AI acculturated to each country rather than imported with its biases.

## TL;DR
The first talk of the 13th ATDA in Abidjan (theme "Alliance Cloud/IA") gathers Didier Kla of Orange Business, Amadou Merico of Le Cloud Facile (remote) and Erwan Rougeux, moderated by Habibata Sanidié Touré. Kla retraces thirty years of African internet, from 64 kbit/s VSAT links to mobile payment, and lists the prerequisites of cloud: networks, data centres, energy, cybersecurity, AI regulation and above all skills. Merico is optimistic about adoption, notes the hyperscalers' arrival (AWS in Cape Town, Orange–AWS in Senegal and Morocco) and calls for clearer, regionally harmonised cloud regulation. Erwan's advice to decision-makers has five parts: digital sovereignty is the most important thing, and Europe has lost that war; countries should work together with a pan-African vision because cloud is mostly software, not infrastructure; co-invest with local companies, since only an African can understand an African problem; train (he expects a "cloud school" after Orange's fibre school) and invest in start-ups; and treat AI as an industrial revolution in which each country needs its own AI, because today's models were trained in the US on data tagged mostly by white men aged 40 to 50, with their biases. In the Q&A, Kla answers bluntly that he sees no real African cloud strategy and that sovereignty makes no sense for countries that produce nothing, drawing applause.

## Erwan's key points
- These subjects are complex, not complicated, and must be tackled on every dimension at once ([1:55:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=6957s)).
- Digital sovereignty is the most important thing to have. He says plainly that Europe has lost that war: senator Catherine Morin-Desailly called Europeans "American digital neo-colonies", and their data is taken and exploited to feed AIs that are then sold back to them ([1:56:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=6973s)).
- Sovereignty is what lets any country offer a digital space for its people and its companies ([1:56:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7010s)).
- From fifteen years on the continent, he sees the capacity of African countries to work together: a pan-African vision reduces investment and scale costs for bringing cloud everywhere ([1:57:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7026s)).
- Cloud is mainly software: if it were infrastructure, AOL, Verizon or Equinix would be the household names, not Google, Amazon or Microsoft. The software layer is what catalyses a digital ecosystem ([1:57:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7048s)).
- Co-invest with local companies: only an African can understand an African problem and propose an African solution, and even the best product needs an ecosystem to be known and usable ([1:57:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7075s)).
- Training is essential: Orange created a fibre school in Côte d'Ivoire, and he would not be surprised to see a cloud school or an AI school emerge ([1:58:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7112s)).
- Invest in start-ups, the young companies that tackle everyday problems ([1:58:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7133s)).
- AI is an industrial revolution, a term he had not heard that day. Each country should have its own AI: current models were coded and trained in the US on tagged data produced mainly by white men aged 40 to 50, with their cognitive biases ([1:59:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7150s)).
- You cannot drop a technology from elsewhere and say "here, use it": every company co-building in Africa must acculturate its product, which takes work and a partnership of trust with African entrepreneurs and governments ([1:59:54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7194s)).

## Outline
- [1:37:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=5862s) The talk "Cloud : où en est le continent ?" is announced; Habibata Sanidié Touré takes the microphone.
- [1:39:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=5955s) The panellists are introduced: Didier Kla, Amadou Merico (remote) and Erwan Rougeux, "fifteen years of international experience".
- [1:41:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=6068s) Kla: thirty years of African internet, from 64 kbit/s VSAT in Côte d'Ivoire to mobile payment; the "journey of data" through networks, transport and data centres.
- [1:44:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=6297s) Kla: energy and environmental constraints of data centres, cybersecurity as the forgotten prerequisite, the AI regulation debate.
- [1:47:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=6430s) Kla: Africa is "far from the mark" on data centres, hyperscalers set up locally to comply with regulation, and the skills shortage is critical.
- [1:49:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=6579s) Merico: a USD 1,000 billion global cloud market by the end of the decade (Gartner), hyperscalers arriving (AWS Cape Town, Orange–AWS in Senegal and Morocco), start-ups accessing the same services as US firms.
- [1:53:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=6804s) Merico: local skills, talent retention, clearer and regionally harmonised cloud regulation, funding and public-private partnerships, local use cases.
- [1:55:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=6948s) Question to Erwan: what advice for African decision-makers' cloud strategy?
- [1:56:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=6973s) Erwan: sovereignty first; Europe lost that war; "digital neo-colonies".
- [1:57:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7026s) Erwan: a pan-African vision to share costs; cloud is software, not infrastructure.
- [1:57:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7075s) Erwan: co-invest with local companies; only an African can solve an African problem; ecosystems.
- [1:58:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7112s) Erwan: training (a future cloud or AI school), investing in start-ups.
- [1:59:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7150s) Erwan: AI as an industrial revolution, biased models, acculturating technology, partnership of trust.
- [2:00:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7232s) The moderator notes the cognitive biases of current AIs and opens the floor.
- [2:02:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7344s) Audience question: with the AfCFTA, should African clouds be interconnected to reach competitive prices?
- [2:03:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7421s) Kla: no real African cloud strategy; hyperscalers' local data centres are a "geographic displacement" of the problem; "you produce nothing and you want to be sovereign?"; train engineers first, a 30- to 40-year effort.
- [2:07:27](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7647s) Kla on the legal battle over the African IP address registry.
- [2:08:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7735s) Last question on energy capacity for data centres in Côte d'Ivoire; Kla on solarised data centres and tier 3/4 sites.
- [2:10:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7843s) The moderator closes: invest in infrastructure, talent and an enabling framework.

## Notable quotes
> "nous en Europe on a perdu cette guerre de la souveraineté numérique" — Erwan Rougeux, [1:56:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=6984s)
*"We in Europe have lost this war of digital sovereignty."*

> "le Cloud est principalement du logiciel ; si c'était de l'infrastructure, ce serait AOL et Verizon ou Equinix qui seraient connus" — Erwan Rougeux, [1:57:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7053s)
*"Cloud is mainly software; if it were infrastructure, AOL, Verizon or Equinix would be the famous names."*

> "il n'y a qu'un Africain qui peut comprendre le problème africain et peut proposer une solution africaine" — Erwan Rougeux, [1:58:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7087s)
*"Only an African can understand an African problem and propose an African solution."*

> "on ne peut pas prendre une technologie venue d'ailleurs et venir la déposer ici en disant voilà la technologie, servez-vous-en" — Erwan Rougeux, [1:59:54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7194s)
*"You can't take a technology from elsewhere, drop it here and say: here's the technology, help yourselves."*

## Questions this answers
**Q: What does Erwan advise African governments on cloud strategy?**
A: Sovereignty first, then a pan-African vision to share investment, co-investment with local companies, training and start-up funding, and a national approach to AI ([1:55:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=6957s)).

**Q: Has Europe achieved digital sovereignty, according to Erwan?**
A: No. He says Europe lost that war and quotes the senator who called Europeans American digital neo-colonies whose data feeds AIs sold back to them ([1:56:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=6973s)).

**Q: Is cloud mostly about data centres?**
A: Erwan says cloud is mainly software: the household names are Google, Amazon and Microsoft, not AOL, Verizon or Equinix, and the software layer catalyses the ecosystem ([1:57:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7048s)).

**Q: Why does Erwan say each African country needs its own AI?**
A: Because current models were trained in the US on data tagged mostly by white men aged 40 to 50, with their cognitive biases; imported technology must be acculturated to local needs ([1:59:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7150s)).

**Q: What role do local partners play?**
A: Co-investment and trust: only an African can understand an African problem, and a product needs a local ecosystem to be known and usable ([1:57:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7075s)).

**Q: Did the other panellists agree on sovereignty?**
A: Didier Kla pushed back in the Q&A: he sees no real African cloud strategy and argues that countries that produce nothing cannot be sovereign, so the priority is training engineers over decades ([2:03:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLpH3QQQn2Q&t=7421s)).

## Mentioned
ATDA, CIO Mag, Clever Cloud, Orange Business, Le Cloud Facile, Groupe Défis & Stratégies, Catherine Morin-Desailly, AOL, Verizon, Equinix, Google, Amazon, AWS, Microsoft, Oracle, Huawei, Gartner, AfCFTA (ZLECAf), ECOWAS (CEDEAO), Smart Africa, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Morocco, Cape Town, Dublin, Europe, United States