“The Stealing of African Data Must Stop” — Minister Sam George Warns of Digital Colonization, Urges Continental Data Sovereignty

Minister for Communication, Digital Technology, and Innovations Hon. Samuel Nartey George has warned that Africa faces a “new colonization” through the extraction of digital data, calling for the continent to assert ownership and control over its information.

Speaking at the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Sovereignty and Values in Parliament, the Ningo-Prampram MP said the story of colonization follows a familiar script. “I divided people, I conquered people — community set against themselves,” he said. “Ghana is leading the reparations movement, but even as we talk about reparations on slavery, we must be careful that a new colonization and slave trade of digital assets from Africa does not begin to arise.”

Hon. George accused global tech firms of extracting data without consent. “There’s no nice diplomatic way of putting it: the stealing of African data must stop. African data is being stolen by big tech without recourse to African governments,” he said. “We need to wake up to that and begin to say that you can only use our data on our own basis. We must own our data.”

He urged continental unity against what he described as “forces that are looking to destroy us,” citing social challenges in Western countries. Referencing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hon. George said “persons engaged in this anti-family values are four hundred percent more likely to be substance abusers, four hundred percent more likely to be suicidal.”

The Minister also cited recent judicial decisions abroad. “The U.S. Supreme Court had to reverse Roe v. Wade recently. As we speak today in the United States there are about twenty-four states in the U.S. that have anti-LGBTQ laws to protect their people,” he said. “The UK Supreme Court recently passed a ruling that said that there are only two genders: male and female, a man and a woman.”

Hon. Samuel Nartey George described homosexuality as a “mental aberration” and referenced historical U.S. medical classifications, urging Africa to “learn from the mistakes” of other regions on family policy.

“Walking back on four, five decades of negligence, we as Africans must not allow that. A whole generation of negligence on our part — we must learn from the mistakes that they have made and correct it,” the Ningo-Prampram MP told delegates at the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Sovereignty and Values in Parliament.