Our Correspondent | Africa Guardian
In 1998, a group of African demographers, led by Professor Tukufu Zuberi and me, convened at Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) to establish the African Census Analysis Project (ACAP). Zuberi, a distinguished scholar and the Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations at the University of Pennsylvania, has been instrumental in mobilizing African academics to study demography. His efforts focused on reviving African census data, much of which was stored on outdated rolls of paper and tapes, rendering it inaccessible. With the help of African scholars, he painstakingly digitized these records and returned them to their respective African authorities, benefitting countries like South Africa by restoring pre-1996 census data.
By 2001, StatsSA sought a way to develop an online dissemination system for the SuperCross tabulation tool—a globally preferred resource for statisticians. At Zuberi’s recommendation, StatsSA adopted Nesstar, a platform providing access to downloadable data files alongside their metadata. For over two decades, SuperWeb and Nesstar were key to making StatsSA data accessible to the public.
However, on December 19, 2024, StatsSA announced Nesstar’s discontinuation due to the closure of the organization that licensed and supported the platform. In their announcement, StatsSA stated that SuperWeb2 and SuperCross would remain the primary tools for generating cross-tabulations and promised an alternative data access platform by January 2025.
While Nesstar’s retirement marks the end of an era, it also highlights opportunities for Africa to embrace homegrown, Ubuntu-driven solutions. One such example is Eldrid Jordaan’s GovChat, which faced significant challenges from global tech giants but ultimately demonstrated Africa’s potential to compete in the tech industry.
The closure of Nesstar underscores Africa’s vulnerability in data systems—an area that is pivotal for 21st-century progress. Addressing this challenge requires collaboration and innovation to ensure Africa remains competitive in the rapidly evolving global tech landscape. As Marx once noted in Capital, technology lays bare humanity’s relationship with nature and the production of social relations. For Africa, this means transforming its approach to technology into one rooted in Ubuntu—the philosophy of interconnectedness and shared humanity.
This vision was emphasized during the 11th Africa Symposium for Statistical Development in Gabon in December 2015, where participants warned of Africa becoming a “meal” for other nations in the digital era. Jordaan’s recent victory against Meta offers a compelling use case for Africa’s ability to fight back and create value. The Competition Commission’s findings against Meta, which could result in fines amounting to billions of rand, represent a significant win for Africa’s digital sovereignty.
Beyond the legal victory, Jordaan’s creation of Suppple, an African platform, exemplifies how Africa can redefine its role in the tech industry. On the ashes of Nesstar’s closure lies fertile ground for Africa to harness the power of technology in ways that reflect Ubuntu. As envisioned by the origins of ACAP, the journey continues to rediscover and embed Ubuntu into Africa’s digital future, making the continent an active participant and innovator in shaping global technology.
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