Gitex Africa 2025: Building Africa’s Digital Future Through Trust, Innovation, and Cybersecurity

Better use of AI to combat cybercriminals, integrate ethics into digital projects, strengthen data protection, invest in digital health. These are just some of the recommendations made during the Gitex Africa 2025 Round-up.

The curtain fell on the third edition of Gitex Africa yesterday in Marrakech. It was a final clap after three days punctuated by sectoral conferences that highlighted the major challenges related to digital sovereignty in Africa. Naturally, cybersecurity took a prominent place in the discussions, in a context marked by the recent attacks on the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) and other Moroccan institutions. The tone was set at the opening ceremony of the Gitex Africa 2025 by Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, head of the UAE Cybersecurity Council.

During his speech, he emphasized the importance of cybersecurity in any digital development strategy. “Security is a pillar without which no digital sovereignty can emerge. It is a condition of trust, without which citizens, businesses, and states cannot appropriate the technologies of tomorrow,” he said. According to him, it is urgent to build resilient, interoperable systems aligned with international standards, while being adapted to regional contexts.

“Cybersecurity is not just a technical issue: it must be considered within a framework of cooperation between governments, businesses, and research centers. It is in this spirit that the Emirates is continuing its commitment to Gitex Africa, which it considers an ideal platform for developing South-South synergies,” emphasized the Emirati official.

Better use of AI to combat cybercriminals

Artificial intelligence (AI), used by many African startups, could greatly assist African states in this cybersecurity project. This is the conviction shared by many experts at this major innovation event, who believe that AI allows for more precise and faster threat detection.

However, participants at the gitex Africa warned that, this technology is also a powerful tool for cybercriminals, in a continent with nearly 700 million internet users, a number expected to rise to 1.1 billion by 2029. Hence the need to prioritize “a sovereign, ethical and controlled AI, designed from local data and respectful of privacy.” The success of this digital war against hackers also depends on skills training.

In this area, Africa is lagging behind, with only 10,000 cybersecurity experts, while twenty times more are needed by 2030, according to cybersecurity expert Imad El Baraka. He calls on African countries to implement a shared strategy, inspired by collaborative models like Estonia’s, and to implement inclusive mass training, to make cybersecurity a real driver of innovation.

“Africa must not only defend itself, it must create its own cybersecurity solutions,” he advocated.

Integrating Ethics into Digital Projects

“Science without conscience is only the ruin of the soul.” Rabelais’s famous maxim was brought up to date during a panel discussion on the theme: “Towards Trusted Digitalization: Building Technological Sovereignty and Inclusion in Africa.” The various speakers advocated for the establishment of an inclusive digitalization model, embodying strong ethical values.

According to them, this challenge cannot be a simple technological lever; it must imperatively be part of a dynamic of trust, data protection, and respect for human values. This will not only help bridge the digital divide, but also strengthen the continent’s digital sovereignty.

Strengthening data protection

“The challenge is not only technological, but also institutional and human,” insisted Lacina Koné, director general of the pan-African organization Smart Africa.

According to him, it is urgent to build ecosystems where citizens feel protected, listened to and represented. “Digital trust cannot succeed without trust between states, technology operators and populations,” he stressed.

There can be no trust without data security. This is the message conveyed by Omar Seghrouchni, President of the National Commission for the Control of Personal Data Protection (CNDP). For him, the protection of personal data is essential in establishing a sustainable African digital ecosystem. “To live digitally, you have to breathe data protection,” he said.

The experts at Gitex Africa also call on African states to adopt harmonized and transparent regulatory frameworks, and to focus on education, research and local innovation, to promote the emergence of digital sovereignty based on trust.

Gitex Africa: Investing in digital health

To launch digital projects, it is imperative to be in good health, a sector increasingly characterized by the use of cutting-edge technologies, solutions mainly offered by startups specialized in healthtech.

Digital health thus occupied a prominent place at Gitex Africa 2025, as the challenges are enormous. With a healthcare market estimated at $259 billion and which could, by 2030, become the second largest in the world, just behind the United States, Morocco intends to play a major role in this revolution.

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(Featured image by Igor Omilaev via Unsplash)

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First published in LES ECO.ma. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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