'Data and knowledge are Africa's oil': researchers call for African-owned data systems
At a Nairobi symposium, research leaders urged long-term investment so that data collected in Africa is analysed, owned and used on African terms.
Nairobi — Much of the data gathered in Africa is analysed and turned into money elsewhere. Researchers and policymakers meeting in Nairobi this week called for that to change, KBC reported.
The third Africa Health and Development Annual Research Symposium (AHDARS 2026) was convened by the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), the Science for Africa Foundation and the GSMA, under the theme "Building African-Centered Data and Knowledge Systems".
"Built by us, but they must serve us"
"Data and knowledge are Africa's oil. And so the question is: do we let that oil become a curse to the African continent? Or do we work together to harness it, so that all of us can benefit from its value?" asked Dr Catherine Kyobutungi, APHRC's executive director. "Africa's data and knowledge systems must be built by us, but they must serve us," she said.
Prof. Tom Kariuki, chief executive of the Science for Africa Foundation, called for a shift from data extraction to data sovereignty. "Data sovereignty does not mean building a data fortress where people cannot access it... It means that we set the terms on which it is shared," he said. He cited the African Population Cohorts Consortium, which links more than 60 cohorts and nearly seven million participants, and urged funders to back African institutions for the long term rather than with short grants.
From research to impact
Kenya's Principal Secretary for Science, Research and Innovation, Prof. Shaukat Abdulrazak, said Africa must "move beyond being a consumer of knowledge and technology developed elsewhere". He pointed to Kenya's research blueprint and its Grand Challenge initiative, which targets priorities such as maternal and child health, food security, climate change and clean energy.
Source: KBC, 12 November 2026.
