Africa’s ambition to become a meaningful player in the global artificial intelligence economy is increasingly shifting attention from AI applications to the infrastructure needed to power them. Against this backdrop, the Nigeria AI Collective has announced Build 2026, a continental conference focused on shared computing and AI infrastructure, as stakeholders seek practical solutions to Africa’s growing dependence on computing resources, data centres and other technologies required to develop and deploy advanced AI systems.
The conference, scheduled for October 21 and 22, 2026, in Abuja, will be hosted by the Nigeria AI Collective under the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy. It will bring together policymakers, researchers, technology innovators and other stakeholders to examine how African countries can build, share and govern the computing infrastructure required to support the continent’s AI ambitions. The organisers said the programme will focus on infrastructure, economics, geopolitics, technology justice, governance and ethics, and innovation catalysis.
A major concern behind the conference is the cost and availability of the infrastructure required for AI development. According to the organisers, Africa needs reliable power systems, AI ready data centres, high performance computing clusters and expanded fibre networks, alongside indigenous data systems and appropriate mechanisms for allocating computing resources. The conference is therefore expected to examine how these foundations can be developed in ways that support African researchers, startups, businesses and public institutions rather than leaving the continent largely dependent on infrastructure controlled elsewhere.
For Nigeria, the conference provides another platform to position the country within the wider African AI conversation while bringing attention to the infrastructure requirements that could determine the pace of local AI development. The Nigeria AI Collective describes itself as a community bringing together civil society, academia, innovation, policy and the wider AI ecosystem to promote safe, ethical and inclusive artificial intelligence. With Build 2026, the conversation is moving beyond how Africans can use AI to a more fundamental question: who will build, own and operate the infrastructure on which Africa’s AI future depends?