Burkina Faso: Izaï Toé advocates for dual anchoring of national data for digital sovereignty
Izaï Toé, Executive Director of the Burkinabè Alliance of Internet Domains ABDI, spoke at the launch of IKA Cloud, a 100% local data hosting platform, on July 31, 2026. His presentation focused on "Digital Sovereignty and Local Hosting: Your Data Secure Here, in Faso," highlighting the strategic importance of data control and the need for national digital sovereignty. Toé emphasized that data is a valuable resource, comparable to a heritage, crucial for states, businesses, and citizens, underpinning modern society from civil registries to banking and medical records. He stressed the importance of protecting, securing, and valuing this strategic asset. Toé argued that the key question for Burkina Faso is not merely internet connectivity, but where data produced in the country is hosted and who ensures its control, availability, and security. He defined digital sovereignty as a state's capacity to control its digital infrastructure, data, and essential services like e-governance, financial services, and digital health and education. He commended Burkina Faso's efforts to enhance digital independence, citing two recently launched public administration data centers and a planned national data center for 2028, which he considers vital pillars for national digital sovereignty. The ABDI advocates for a "dual anchoring" concept: data must be stored in a data center located within Burkina Faso and linked to the national ".bf" domain. Toé explained that the data center protects the dat
