At Cloud Days: CAMTEL rallies local actors to collaborate in boosting data sovereignty.

It is being held under the theme: “Data sovereignty and collaboration of local actors for the rise of digital in Cameroon”. 

The three-day event has brought together digital experts within government ministries, State institutions, private sector, the military, business entities, start-ups and other institutions generating data.

In a keynote address at the opening, a Senior Cybersecurity, AI, Digital Transformation and Space Strategy Advisor, Dr Anye Divine, encouraged government services and other institutions to host their data at the CAMTEL Data Centre.

In the keynote address, focused on “Data sovereignty and securing critical infrastructure in Cameroon”, the international consultant on cybersecurity and digital issues, stated that the CAMTEL Data Centre “is not just a digital infrastructure, but a national economic engine”.

‘Advantageous to host at CAMTEL Data Centre’

Dr Anye said it will be cost effective for institutions to host their data at the CAMTEL Data Centre, rather than running their own data centres, noting that it is “business scaling”. 

He said this will help build national credibility through consolidation “because a fragmented hosting environment dilutes national capacity, while a unifying hosting strategy amplifies”. 

“It also amplifies disaster recovery, national redundancy, threat visibility, defensive coordination and infrastructure optimisation,” he said, adding that consolidation is a strategy and is more convenient.

He continued that “a sovereign national data ecosystem unlocks national economic acceleration, value stays inside the country, jobs grow in the ICT sector, local innovation thrives, cloud adoptions become affordable and international investors gain confidence”.

“Data sovereignty is not a constrain, it is a strategic comparative advantage,” he stated, adding that: “No nation attains cyber sovereignty without ecosystem unity. We must synergise across government agencies, private sector operators, financial institutions, academia, regulators and international partners”.

“Our strength will come from our ability to align infrastructure, standards and operational models on a single sovereignty digital backup,” he stated, noting that Cameroon should aim to be the digital leader in Central Africa. 

The Director of ICT Regulation at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Tsafak Pauline, who was a panelist of one of the panels at the event, said the event is an opportunity to review the importance of protecting personal data in the Cameroonian context and the implementation of the law relating to the protection of personal data.

“The CAMTEL Data Centre is a crucial mechanism for protecting national data, because we have observed that when your data is not stored in Cameroon, for example, you risk being subject to the laws of other countries where the data is stored, and these laws can be contradictory. We have seen cases of certain laws that conflict with Cameroonian laws, for example, regarding the consent of the data subject when their personal data must be processed,” Tsafak said. 

She added that: “We therefore encourage entities established in Cameroon, notably businesses to store data in Cameroon, as the infrastructure exists, so that data processing can be simplified. This is because when data is stored abroad, processing is subject to several legislations, which may be contradictory”. 

Meanwhile, one of the participants, Emmanuel Warri, who is a Technical Coordinator at a start-up, affirmed that: “Hosting data within our own environment where we have control over regulations and security is essential because it allows us to make informed decisions”. 

“For a start‑up like mine, which runs a platform called Alternative Credit Score, this is particularly important. The platform processes financial and electronic data, including information from the new mobile money ecosystem, in a way that enables financial institutions to assess individuals for credit. When someone applies for a loan, the system helps classify them into different categories to determine their eligibility,” he said.

‘Hosting data locally is beneficial’

Warri noted further that: “For me, hosting the data locally is beneficial because I can access it easily, and if any issue arises, I can address it quickly. Our regulatory bodies are Cameroonian, which makes coordination and compliance much easier to manage”.

The first day of the event featured a panel discussion on the topic: “Data sovereignty and regulatory requirements in Cameroon”, and also a guided tour of the data centre. 

It should be noted that the CAMTEL Data Centre is a Tier 3 carrier-neutral facility. It is designed to support local data storage and contribute to the digital regional economy, boasting high-performance security solutions for data storage or processing.
The facility is the only Tier 3 certified data centre in Central Africa, linked to a robust terrestrial fibre network, which guarantees 100% uptime and zero downtime. 

This makes it an ideal choice for telcos or content providers seeking colocation, cloud hosting, and other data services. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3652 of Thursday December 11, 2025