A call for digital sovereignty for Africa January 19, 2026
The fourth wound is a work which evokes the urgency for Africa to realize its technological sovereignty through a problem: why must Africa win the digital war? The debate around this new publication, signed by Mandiaye Diallo, took place this Saturday, January 17, 2026 at the Amady Aly Dieng room at Harmattan Senegal.
“If Africa combines science, technological sovereignty and digital mastery, it will win the digital war. » These remarks were made by Mandiaye Diallo during the presentation ceremony of his book “The fourth wound: why Africa must win the digital war? », which took place this Saturday, January 17, 2026 at the Amady Aly Dieng room at Harmattan Senegal.
On this occasion, Mandiaye Diallo recalled the wounds that Africa has been suffering for years. “The invention of the firearm and the first industrial revolution constitute the first wound. The latter made us slaves. Before it even healed, the second industrial revolution came, making us colonized. Colonization is the second wound,” he explains.
Mandiaye, added that “the digital revolution with the arrival of GAFAM, Africa is suffering a third wound. An injury that is more risky than the previous ones. Worse, we have not even yet channeled the damage from this wound when the fourth comes to scratch the already open wound: artificial intelligence.” When we talk about high-level technology, the author reminds us, Africa does not exist. And yet everything that is said concerns Africa. So the theme of the book is a major geopolitical subject.
“We don’t even have our own social networks even though we use them every day. Digital is powerful and serious. It should be under the supervision of Defense (the Army),” he explains.
However, Mandiaye specifies that sovereignty cannot exist without education and training. This is the most urgent solution. “A lot of young people in a country are an asset, but if they have neither education nor work, it’s a time bomb,” he maintains.
According to Ibrahima Hamidou Dème, speaking in the presentation of the book, the author combines the culture of the concrete and the immateriality of digital technology. “He is a Pan-Africanist, a man of action and construction. Moreover, his first project “xam xam mooy doole” is the first science show for children in African languages. “He understood the importance of education and cultural sovereignty for a country seeking to build technological sovereignty,” says M.Dème.
In this perspective, Mandiaye Gaye, the postwriter adds that “the author calls on Africa and its leaders not to suffer this fourth wound”. These comments are shared by Ibrahima Diallo, director of Harmattan Senegal, who maintains that African leaders must engage in the fight for infrastructure for data conservation.
The author concludes by explaining that bricks alone are not enough to build the African continent. “We need science, technological sovereignty, digital mastery. This defines how the world works,” he believes.
Fatou NDIAYE
