From technological self-determination to the AI shift: The Global South must stop being mere AI consumers

China’s pursuit of high-level technological self-reliance offers a conceptual lesson for Africa: technological sovereignty is not synonymous with isolation. 

It is about securing the bargaining power to make independent choices in global technical cooperation and escaping permanent dependency. 

China’s advances in 5G, quantum communications, new-energy technologies, and open-source AI models such as DeepSeek and Qwen stem from a combination of consistent strategic vision, established industrial capacity, a vast domestic market, and ongoing opening-up. 

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