Amid rising global trade tensions, marked by escalating tariff wars and growing protectionism, Moses Kwesi Baiden Jnr., CEO and Founder of Margins ID Group, has issued a clarion call for Africa to urgently secure its technological sovereignty.

Speaking at the launch of the 2025 CEO Summit in Accra under the theme, “Leading Ghana’s Economic Reset: Transforming Business and Governance for a Sustainable Futuristic Economy,” Mr Baiden warned that Africa can no longer afford to remain on the sidelines of global transformation.

He urged business leaders, policymakers, and entrepreneurs to take bold steps to build and own the continent’s digital future.

“As countries turn inward and nationalism resurfaces, the illusion of a borderless global economy is fast unravelling," Baiden noted.

"In this fractured world order, Africa must act—not tomorrow, but now."

He stressed that Africa must create its own digital destiny—where data is sovereign, systems are secure, and innovation is homegrown.

"Because in the world that’s coming," Baiden cautioned, "you either build—or you are built."

Highlighting the continent’s growing vulnerability, Baiden pointed to recent disruptions in access to cloud-based tools, intellectual platforms, and digital storage systems.

Many of the platforms African firms rely on, he warned, are controlled by foreign entities driven by their own geopolitical and commercial interests.

“As global tensions escalate, the risk of sudden, arbitrary disconnections—cutting off access to vital tools and entire troves of intellectual capital—becomes alarmingly real," he said.

Baiden painted a stark picture: "Imagine a future where your corporate memory, your data, your identity can disappear overnight—not due to your failure, but because of decisions made halfway across the world."

Without decisive action, he cautioned, Africa risks becoming a "digital colony," bound by systems it neither controls nor understands, and vulnerable to disruptions beyond its control.

Baiden’s address also sounded a warning about the Fourth Industrial Revolution—a seismic shift driven by artificial intelligence, automation, data analytics, and digital connectivity.

While many nations are racing to harness these forces for competitive advantage, he stressed that Africa risks being left behind—or worse, defined by others within this new global order.

"The future belongs to those who create it," Baiden declared.

"Let us not wait to be invited to the table. Let us set the table. Let us shape the future."

He emphasised the need to design systems that are transparent, ethical, accountable, and rooted in strong governance and inclusive productivity.

Furthermore, he called on Africa’s private sector to lead—not just with capital, but with courage, vision, and an unwavering commitment to fostering homegrown innovation capable of competing on the global stage.