Africa embraces global-standard preservation to safeguard its legacy

By : Kingsley Jeremiah

Date: 5 December 2025 4:35pm WAT

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A growing wave of interest in long-term data and heritage preservation is sweeping across Africa, as public institutions, royal dynasties, cultural bodies and leading corporations move to secure their historical and digital records for future generations.

At the heart of this shift is Piql West Africa and its partnership with the Arctic World Archive (AWA) in Norway, recognised as the world’s most secure data vault, buried deep within the Arctic permafrost.

Across the world, influential nations have increasingly invested in preserving not only their governance and economic systems but also their cultural identity and institutional memory. African leaders are now adopting the same approach, recognising that long-term preservation has become a strategic asset linked to soft power, national reputation and global visibility.

In a statement, the Chairman of Piql West Africa, Nze Edward Keazor, said institutions across the continent were beginning to understand the long-term value of safeguarding their records.

“When nations preserve their story, they preserve their influence,” he noted, adding, “Institutions are not just paying to store data. They are securing their place in world memory.”

Globally, major landmark projects such as the Vatican Library’s manuscript preservation and ongoing collaborations between Piql and the UAE National Archives have demonstrated how memory preservation has evolved into a symbol of national prestige.

These efforts not only protect historical material but also strengthen public trust and project a forward-looking image on the international stage.

African organisations are now joining this global community. Royal houses, museums, academic institutions, financial bodies and cultural organisations are preparing significant deposits for preservation in the Arctic World Archive.

The move is expected to protect priceless artefacts, historical documents, scientific knowledge, institutional records and oral histories that are frequently at risk due to inadequate local storage systems, environmental pressures or political instability.

The organisation said the symbolism of the initiative is as important as the practical benefit. Stressing that the development is about heritage, it noted that this is about the enduring legacy of African leadership and institutions.

The February 2026 AWA African Founders’ Ceremony is anticipated to be a landmark moment for the continent, marking the first large-scale African contribution to the global memory repository.

Multiple states, royal families, national repositories and private organisations are expected to formalise their participation.

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