By Babajide Ojuola, PhD, FNSE

In my earlier article, “Globalization is Being Reset, and Nigeria Can Help Shape the New Order,” I argued that nations increasingly derive influence and competitive advantage from knowledge, technology, and networks of intelligence as much as from geography, natural resources, and traditional economic power.

As Nigeria advances its data sovereignty agenda, I believe an even more important conversation is needed: the development of critical knowledge infrastructure.

Data sovereignty is essential. Nations should control strategic data that affects their security, economy, and citizens. But data alone creates little value. It becomes useful only when interpreted, contextualized, and applied to solve real problems. Data becomes valuable when transformed into knowledge and, ultimately, intelligence.

In the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the countries that will prosper will not simply be those that own the most data, bu,  those that can capture, preserve, share, and continually build upon their collective knowledge. Nigeria must therefore invest in knowledge infrastructure with the same seriousness that earlier generations invested in roads, railways, ports, and power systems.

History offers an important lesson.

The Industrial Revolution transformed nations that built factories, transportation systems, educational institutions, and manufacturing capabilities. Much of Africa, including Nigeria, remained largely a supplier of raw materials, constrained by colonial extraction, weak industrial policies, and inadequate infrastructure. The effects of that missed opportunity still shape our development today.

The AI age presents another turning point, and we cannot afford to miss this one. Unlike the industrial era, whose foundations were heavy manufacturing and physical assets, today’s competitive advantage rests increasingly on human capital, digital platforms, institutional knowledge, innovation ecosystems, and computing capability.

This is where knowledge infrastructure becomes essential.

I define knowledge infrastructure as that which encompasses the systems and institutions that help societies create, preserve, transfer, and apply knowledge at scale. It includes universities, research centres, organizational knowledge management systems, professional learning networks, digital libraries, indigenous AI models, innovation hubs, and mechanisms for preserving institutional memory and data.

My conviction on this issue comes largely from my experience working in Nigeria’s energy industry. Over the years, I have worked on several energy, engineering, and infrastructure projects, and one thing has become abundantly clear: some of the most valuable assets do not always appear on a balance sheet. They reside in people.

They reside in the engineer who understands why a design approach succeeded on one project but failed on another, the project manager who knows how to navigate complex stakeholder environments, and the technicians and operators who have accumulated years of practical wisdom under uniquely Nigerian conditions.

Yet much of that knowledge remains undocumented. When experienced professionals retire or leave, significant portions of institutional memory often disappear with them. This challenge extends beyond the energy sector to healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, education, and public service, as the same parrallel exist across several critical economic sector in Nigeria.

Across Africa, encouraging examples already exist.

Rwanda has deliberately positioned itself as a knowledge-driven economy through Vision 2050 and the Smart Rwanda Master Plan, investing in digital skills, innovation ecosystems, and technology-enabled public services. Kenya, through its digital public infrastructure, mobile payments ecosystem, and growing use of AI in agriculture and finance, demonstrates how local innovation can solve local problems while creating globally relevant models.

These examples show that Africa does not have to follow the exact industrial pathways of previous centuries. We can leapfrog into the knowledge economy if we invest in the right foundations.

What this means for Nigeria.

Nigeria is particularly well positioned to lead this transformation. We possess the population, entrepreneurial energy, academic institutions, natural resources, and one of Africa’s most vibrant technology ecosystems. But we must build indigenous knowledge systems, develop local AI capabilities, and preserve our languages, experiences, and institutional wisdom within the digital platforms that will shape the future.

That means investing not only in data centres and cloud infrastructure, but also in research institutions, professional learning networks, knowledge management systems, local datasets, and educational platforms that democratize African knowledge. This is especially important because Africa’s greatest asset remains its predominantly young population, whose creativity, resilience, and entrepreneurial spirit are immense.

The African Development Bank has emphasized that AI presents Africa with a unique opportunity to accelerate development if the continent addresses gaps in infrastructure, skills, innovation, and governance. Likewise, the African Continental Free Trade Area offers a platform for shared research, regional knowledge networks, interoperable digital infrastructure, and indigenous AI ecosystems aligned with African priorities.

The first industrial age was powered by coal, steel, factories, and railways. The age of AI will be powered by data, compute, human expertise, and knowledge infrastructure. Nigeria, and Africa as a whole, may have missed much of the Industrial Revolution, but we must not miss the Intelligence Revolution.

Profile

Dr. Babajide Ojuola is a senior energy executive and engineering fellow with two decades of experience delivering complex oil & gas and infrastructure projects. He is the Executive Director in charge of Technical Services at International Energy Services Limited (IESL), a Pan-African engineering and energy services company.

A strong advocate of knowledge-driven performance, he integrates project management, knowledge management, and artificial intelligence / digital systems to improve delivery outcomes. Dr. Ojuola is an Alumus of the prestigious Said Business School, University of Oxford, UK, and a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE). Dr Babajide Ojuola holds a PhD in Engineering Management from Walden University, USA, and he is an official member of the Forbes Technology Council, an invitation-only organization for world-class technology leaders and innovators.