![Mali’s newly launched National Tier III Data Centre [picture credit: ICT ministry, Burkina Faso].](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/zqYu-5WfpnXzVBGixCAnPQOpNqHAsqML4fcwfzwEmNLV3n86keVUDQ1PN3oDSRIz2ys3Qjdvz1IAdray8NT84osqQttwkMy27nxa)
Mali has made a crucial step toward digital sovereignty by inaugurating a Tier III data centre as part of the West African country's third annual Digital Week.
The Ministry of Communication, Digital Economy, and Administration Modernisation, led by minister Alhamdou Ag Ilyène, launched the strategic infrastructure, known as the National Data Centre, over the weekend in the presence of fellow digital economy ministers from Confederation of Sahel States (AES) member nations.
According to the government, the facility will provide secure hosting capacity for the Malian state's strategic data, electronic administration platforms, public digital services, and, in the short term, mutualised digital infrastructures in the AES space, which includes Niger and Burkina Faso.
Authorities also highlighted that the initiative signals the end of dependence on foreign infrastructure and the extraterritorial cloud, while improving performance, resilience and cyber security of digital public services.
This creates a reliable base for the development of e-government, artificial intelligence, digital financial services, and national and confederate digital platforms.
The ministry also underlined that beyond the technological aspect, the AES members have unanimously emphasised the political and strategic scope of this achievement.
They stated that this data centre is directly part of the vision of the AES heads of state, who have made digital sovereignty a central pillar of sovereignty, as well as security, defence and economic independence.
AES ministers believe mastering the hosting, processing and protection of national data involves regaining control of public decision-making, protecting sensitive information from states and citizens, and building a secure, resilient digital space in line with the alliance’s sovereign priorities.
This infrastructure is thus a concrete act of breaking away with digital dependence models and a decisive step towards building an integrated, supportive and autonomous Sahel digital ecosystem.
“The inauguration of this Tier III data centre finally marks a structural advancement for the attractiveness of the AES space, providing administrations, companies, start-ups and technical partners with a trusted environment conducive to innovation, investment and sustainable digital transformation of Confederate States,” noted a statement from the ministry.
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