---
sheet_format: 1.0
id: 2025-02-clever-cloud-fest-ecosysteme-international
title: "Un écosystème pour l'international"
title_en: "An ecosystem for international growth"
speaker: Erwan Rougeux
with: [Léonard Cox (Horkos Partners, moderator), Jean-Jacques N'Docho (New Digital Africa), Ismaël Faouri (La Sphère), Jules-Hervé Yimeumi (Africa Data Protection)]
date: 2025-02-06
event: "Clever Cloud Fest 2025"
place: "Palace d'iciLundi, Nantes, France"
format: panel
language: fr
duration: "30:59"
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s
slides: null
topics: [international expansion, africa, partnerships, data protection, strategic autonomy, local currency, ai]
source: "Summary written by Claude (AI) from the auto-generated YouTube captions of a four-voice round table. Erwan's contributions are attributed from context (the moderator addresses him by name); not a verbatim transcript; check the recording before quoting."
review: none
---

# Un écosystème pour l'international

**In one sentence:** On a Clever Cloud Fest round table about Europe–Africa ecosystems, Erwan Rougeux explains why Clever Cloud Africa is co-built with New Digital Africa, keeps value and data on the continent, and what strategic autonomy really requires.

## TL;DR
Léonard Cox moderates a panel on the ecosystem Clever Cloud is building in West Africa with New Digital Africa (NDA), La Sphère in Morocco and the Africa Data Protection association. Jean-Jacques N'Docho describes how NDA's Data Connect brand hosts data physically in Abidjan, Douala, Dakar or Bamako on Clever Cloud technology. Erwan says the first job was to regain people's trust and that Clever Cloud West Africa could not exist without NDA and Ange Kacou Diagou's knowledge of the market. His differentiator: Westerners usually arrive, extract value and leave, whereas Clever Cloud keeps the value locally and co-builds, because "Africa doesn't need us". Clever Cloud Africa will be an African company run by Africans, with a pan-African vision. He insists customers' data stays theirs and encrypted, argues that protected, tagged local data is what will let African AI champions emerge, and prefers the term "strategic autonomy" to "digital sovereignty", which in his view rests on four things: infrastructure, talent retention, local currency and continuous training. Jules-Hervé Yimeumi closes on the 40-odd African data protection laws and the compliance formalities they impose.

## Erwan's key points
- The first thing Clever Cloud had to do in Africa was to regain people's trust and show up with a real value proposition and the right mindset ([5:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=325s)).
- He shares a vision with Ange Kacou Diagou and NDA; repeating his morning line, "alone we are nothing, together we are everything". Without New Digital Africa, Clever Cloud West Africa could not exist ([6:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=361s)).
- The differentiator: Westerners usually come, extract value and leave; Clever Cloud proposes to keep the value locally and co-build. "We can't build without them, they can build without us: Africa doesn't need us" ([6:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=394s)).
- Clever Cloud Africa, built with NDA in Côte d'Ivoire, will be an African company managed by Africans for Africans, with a pan-African vision ([21:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1264s)).
- Data is the new oil and everyone wants it; Clever Cloud tells customers their data is theirs, everything is encrypted, Clever itself cannot read it, and it stays until they ask to delete it ([21:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1286s)).
- AI needs clean, tagged data. He says three quarters of existing LLMs were built by Caucasians in the United States with their cognitive biases and artefacts; protected and tagged data in each country will let AI champions dedicated to African problems emerge ([21:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1316s)).
- Only an African can understand an African problem and propose an African solution; those solutions need secure hosting ([22:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1373s)).
- He dislikes the term "digital sovereignty" and prefers "strategic autonomy", which needs four things: infrastructure (Africa already has tier 3 and 3+ data centres), people and how to keep talent from leaving, currency (paying your cloud in a foreign currency means no real control) and training, i.e. continuous skills transfer ([23:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1387s)).
- When Clever Cloud first described its Africa strategy, people were curious or sceptical; once they see how fast it deployed with NDA, the first question becomes "when can we get on board?" ([24:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1445s)).
- Likely Erwan, rebounding on the 54 data protection laws: he would rather have 54 laws to comply with than none ([29:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1790s)).

## Outline
- [0:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=5s) Léonard Cox introduces the panel: ecosystems and partnerships on the African continent, Clever Cloud Africa as the demonstrator.
- [1:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=94s) Jean-Jacques N'Docho (NDA): "Africa is the future, and the future is digital"; from on-premise servers to cloud adoption; the Clever Cloud partnership as an opportunity in West and Central Africa.
- [4:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=289s) Question to Erwan: what is Clever Cloud's differentiator abroad, old logics or co-construction?
- [5:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=325s) Erwan: regaining trust, a shared vision with Ange Kacou Diagou, keeping value locally, "Africa doesn't need us".
- [7:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=428s) Ismaël Faouri (La Sphère): a Nantes-born company, Africa's 2063 strategy and Morocco's Digital 2030, a three-part consortium in Morocco (software and cloud, training, start-up use cases).
- [10:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=608s) Jules-Hervé Yimeumi (Africa Data Protection): from 20 to about 40 data protection laws in ten years; prior declarations and transfer authorisations required in most countries.
- [12:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=740s) N'Docho on Data Connect: data physically hosted in Abidjan, Douala, Dakar, Bamako, with Clever Cloud's orchestration layer on top; sceptical customers convinced once it works.
- [16:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=968s) Yimeumi: how the association reviews partners' projects for local compliance; technical and organisational measures; six-monthly reports.
- [20:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1207s) Question to Erwan: what works, is the NDA ecosystem open to partners and customers, and a word on AI.
- [21:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1264s) Erwan: an African company run by Africans; your data is your data, everything encrypted.
- [21:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1316s) Erwan on AI: biased LLMs, tagged local data and African AI champions.
- [23:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1387s) Erwan: strategic autonomy rather than sovereignty, and its four conditions.
- [24:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1483s) Faouri on the diaspora as a bridge between Europe and Africa (Morocco's policy, Oracle and Capgemini examples); positioning as a bridge, not a gateway.
- [27:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1623s) Audience questions: are African regulations stricter than Europe's, and are 40 different laws manageable?
- [28:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1681s) Yimeumi: no binding African Union convention yet, francophone and anglophone zones differ, Meta fined in Nigeria.
- [29:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1790s) Better 54 laws than none; the association's online course on African data protection; close.

## Notable quotes
> "d'habitude les Occidentaux arrivent, posent de la valeur, repartent avec la valeur ; nous on se propose de garder la valeur sur place" — Erwan Rougeux, [6:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=394s)
*"Usually Westerners arrive, put down value and leave with it; we propose to keep the value on site."*

> "l'Afrique n'a pas besoin de nous, je tiens vraiment à le préciser" — Erwan Rougeux, [6:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=408s)
*"Africa doesn't need us, I really want to make that clear."*

> "votre donnée c'est votre donnée et ça s'arrête là, même nous on peut pas y avoir accès, tout est chiffré chez nous" — Erwan Rougeux, [21:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1298s)
*"Your data is your data, full stop; even we cannot access it, everything is encrypted."*

> "j'aime pas trop le terme de souveraineté numérique, mais plus [celui d']autonomie stratégique" — Erwan Rougeux, [23:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1385s)
*"I don't much like the term digital sovereignty; I prefer strategic autonomy."*

## Questions this answers
**Q: Why does Clever Cloud partner with New Digital Africa instead of opening its own subsidiary?**
A: Erwan says Clever Cloud West Africa could not exist without NDA: Ange Kacou Diagou's intimate knowledge of the market and shared vision made co-construction possible, and Africa does not need Western companies coming on their own ([6:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=361s)).

**Q: Who will run Clever Cloud Africa?**
A: It will be an African company managed by Africans for Africans, with a pan-African vision ([21:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1264s)).

**Q: Can Clever Cloud read its customers' data?**
A: Erwan says no: everything is encrypted, the data belongs to the customer and is kept until the customer asks for deletion ([21:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1298s)).

**Q: What does strategic autonomy require, according to Erwan?**
A: Four things: infrastructure, which Africa already has with tier 3 data centres; talent and the means to keep it; local currency, because paying cloud in a foreign currency removes control; and continuous training and skills transfer ([23:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1387s)).

**Q: Why does local data matter for AI in Africa?**
A: Erwan argues current LLMs carry the biases of the people who built them in the US; protected, tagged data in each country is what will let AI champions solving African problems emerge ([21:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=1316s)).

**Q: Where is the data physically hosted?**
A: Jean-Jacques N'Docho says Data Connect's infrastructure keeps data in Abidjan, Douala, Dakar and Bamako, with Clever Cloud providing the orchestration technology ([14:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1tW1Qt__s&t=895s)).

## Mentioned
Clever Cloud, Clever Cloud Africa, Clever Cloud West Africa, New Digital Africa, Data Connect, Ange Kacou Diagou, Quentin Adam, La Sphère, Africa Data Protection, Horkos Partners, Technoparc (Morocco), African Union, RGPD, Meta, Oracle, Capgemini, Nantes, Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Douala, Dakar, Bamako, Morocco, Nigeria, Canada, United States