Held under NITDA’s Digital Literacy for All (DL4ALL) initiative, the programme brought together 50 participants and focused on practical digital skills designed to help them participate more fully in Nigeria’s fast-growing digital economy.

Beyond the training itself, the programme served as a reminder that digital progress must leave no one behind.

Speaking at the close of the programme, Kashifu Inuwa NITDA’s director-general, described the initiative as a reflection of the agency’s resolve to place accessibility and inclusion at the heart of Nigeria’s digital transformation journey.

According to him, true digital advancement cannot be achieved if persons with disabilities remain excluded from the tools and platforms shaping modern life.

He noted that millions of Nigerians continue to face invisible barriers, not because technology does not exist, but because it is often not designed with accessibility in mind.

“In many cases, the challenge is not the absence of digital tools, but the lack of accessibility,” Inuwa said. “When platforms do not support assistive technologies, lack captions, or remain inaccessible, they unintentionally shut people out and limit their opportunities.”

Inuwa explained that the training aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which places inclusivity at the centre of national development. He stressed that persons with disabilities should be seen not as dependants, but as capable contributors to Nigeria’s economic and social growth.

“When given the right skills and the right technologies, persons with disabilities become innovators, entrepreneurs and professionals who contribute meaningfully across every sector of the economy,” he added.

He also acknowledged the contributions of Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) and SIMBED, describing the collaboration as a powerful example of how partnerships between government and civil society can drive lasting, inclusive impact.

Highlighting NITDA’s broader digital literacy efforts, the Director-General said the DL4ALL programme is a cornerstone of the agency’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan, which aims to achieve 70 per cent digital literacy by 2027 and 95 per cent by 2030.

He explained that the initiative is delivered through three key tracks: an informal sector programme that has trained over 480,000 Nigerians across 30 states and the Federal Capital Territory since September 2024; an education-focused track that integrates digital skills into learning institutions; and a workforce readiness programme designed to strengthen digital competence across both public and private sectors.

“This is not just a pilot programme,” Inuwa said. “It is proof that intentional, inclusive training works, and that persons with disabilities can excel when given equal opportunities.”

Also speaking, Mr Daniel Onunkwo, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of SIMBED, described the training as an important step toward closing the digital inclusion gap for persons with disabilities.

He said the initiative sends a clear message that equity is essential to national progress, adding that SIMBED remains committed to expanding digital empowerment opportunities for PWDs.

Similarly, Grace Jerry, the executive director of Inclusive Friends Association, represented by Tracy Agbamu, praised NITDA for demonstrating intentional leadership in promoting inclusion under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

She encouraged participants to continue applying the skills they have acquired and to become advocates for digital inclusion within their communities.

The programme, stakeholders noted, reinforces NITDA’s vision of a digitally inclusive Nigeria—one where access to opportunity is shaped not by physical ability, but by empowerment, innovation and shared progress.

This call was made during a one-day workshop organized by the Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation, CADEF in partnership with Consumers International.

The workshop, themed “Digital Financial Literacy for PWDs,” explored strategies to enhance financial inclusion for PWDs. Senior Manager of the Development Finance Office at the CBN, Adeniyi Bunmi, stressed the importance of alignment and coordination among disability groups and financial institutions. 

“Financial services should be accessible to everyone, but PWDs still face significant exclusion,” Bunmi said. “While progress has been made since 2012, more needs to be done to meet our 95 percent financial inclusion target.”

The CBN’s commitment to financial inclusion for PWDs was further highlighted by Bunmi, who noted that the Financial Inclusion Steering Committee is chaired by the CBN Governor. 

“PWDs remain a priority segment, and we must move faster by working together to address their unique challenges,” she added.

Key financial institutions, such as Zenith Bank, also participated in the workshop. Chinonso Umeh, who represented the Head of Retail Services at Zenith Bank, reiterated the bank’s commitment to PWDs. 

“At Zenith Bank, we pride ourselves on people, technology, and service. We are committed to working with stakeholders to improve the financial experience for PWDs and ensure they are fully included,” Umeh stated.

The Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs, LASODA, also called for increased public-private collaboration to address the financial barriers faced by PWDs. 

General Manager of LASODA, Adenike Oyetunde-Lawal, emphasized the need for tailored financial products and accessible services.

Oyetunde-Lawal, who was represented by Mr. Safiu Babatunde, Head of the Legal Department, urged the banking sector to be more responsive to the needs of PWDs.

Earlier in her speech, the Executive Director of CADEF, Prof. Chiso Ndukwe-Okafor, highlighted the need for greater inclusivity in the financial sector. She shared her personal experiences witnessing the challenges faced by persons with disabilities in accessing banking services, which sparked her commitment to finding solutions.

Prof. Ndukwe-Okafor stated: “CADEF has been empowering individuals with financial literacy, including those with disabilities.”Our goal is to create inclusive financial systems that meet the needs of all Nigerians.”

The workshop focused on enhancing security and privacy features for PWDs, ensuring accessibility to financial platforms, and developing an action plan to address identified barriers. “We need to ensure that persons with disabilities can protect their financial information online and have easy access to their data through inclusive digital platforms,” Prof. Ndukwe-Okafor explained.

The event underscored the importance of partnerships between the government, financial institutions, and disability organizations in creating inclusive financial solutions. 

Stakeholders agreed on the need for tailored financial literacy programs, improved accessibility of banking platforms, and better coordination across sectors to drive meaningful progress.

The goal of this innovative assistive technology is to help individuals who can no longer use their hands or speak to operate workstations, connected objects and to navigate digital environments without the need to type on a keyboard, to touch a screen, or to use vocal commands.

Eventually, the Allianz Trade and Inclusive Brains partnership will accelerate the development of AI-powered assistive solutions that give people with disabilities more autonomy and facilitate their access to education and to the workforce.

AI for good: When generative AI-powered solutions improve inclusion

Inclusive Brains was founded in 2022 by Professor Olivier Oullier, a neuroscientist turned AI entrepreneur, and Paul Barbaste, a cybersecurity and AI expert, with an ambitious and clear mission: to leverage the combination of generative AI and Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) to improve the inclusion of people who lost the ability to move because of life accidents or neurodegenerative diseases. This is why Inclusive Brains began developing the Prometheus BCI.

“Inclusive Brains’ generative AI models and multimodal neural interfaces will benefit everybody, regardless of their physicality, abilities, and needs, however special they might be. True inclusion means developing solutions that assist each and everyone of us, with no discrimination whatsoever. Being able to control a computer with your mind, your eyes or by blinking or clenching will be life changing for a lot of people with paralysis as it will enable them to communicate with the world. So far, generative AI’s Large Language Models (LLM) are great at understanding human language, but words do not capture all the nuances of human-machine interactions, even more when a disability prevents you from saying them out loud or from typing them. We therefore train our AI models with various kinds of neurophysiological data such as brainwaves, facial muscles, eye-movements or heartbeats. It’s the only way to truly empower machines and digital environments to adapt to how unique each user is, and to how they feel in real time” states Olivier Oullier, Co-founder & CEO of Inclusive Brains.

Allianz Trade brings its global footprint to the Prometheus BCI

The Prometheus technology is already well advanced. Indeed, Inclusive Brains has developed a multimodal data acquisition platform that can monitor, process and classify various neuropsychological signals at the same time (brain, heart, face, eyes).

Coupled with the start-up’s AI model at the core of the Prometheus BCI, it enables people to control an exoskeleton arm with their mind, or by blinking, clenching or with some facial expressions depending on one’s abilities and needs.

Multiple usability tests have been conducted with organizations supporting people with cognitive disabilities and paralysis.

But in order to make the project live and real, Inclusive Brains needed the support of a committed and powerful partner.

This is where Allianz Trade comes in: by partnering with Inclusive Brains, Allianz Trade, which operates through the Allianz Commercial license in South Africa, will bring some important resources to the project on financial, strategic and visibility matters.

“We are proud to partner with Inclusive Brains to leverage artificial intelligence and neurotechnology for positive social impact. Inclusion is a core value at Allianz Trade. We believe in the power of innovation to support it. Partnering with a start-up that is at the forefront of developing generative AI and neurotechnologies to achieve positive social impact is therefore a natural continuation of this long-standing commitment. Concretely, we will bring financial, strategic and logistics support to further advance Prometheus BCI’s R&D and material needs by acquiring physiological sensors and 2 exoskeleton arms. We will also support Inclusive Brains in making the Prometheus AI model open source for everyone else involved in advancing inclusion to benefit from our partnership. The arm exoskeletons, once properly trained and programmed, will be then given to a non-for-profit organisation supporting people with paralysis. We also aim to give Inclusive Brains and Prometheus a wider reach by supporting all communications efforts at global scale. We believe we have an important role to play to raise people’s awareness about the power of AI to foster inclusion”, explains Aylin Somersan Coqui, CEO of Allianz Trade.

A concrete application to come soon, during a key Olympic milestone

In a few weeks from now, the Prometheus neurotechnology will be used during the Olympic Torch Relay by a torch bearer with motor disability to control the arm exoskeleton.

Through this first public application and use of Prometheus, Inclusive Brains and Allianz Trade aim to increase people’s awareness on the urge to support scientific and industrial effort in the field of AI-powered assistive technologies that improve inclusivity in the workplace and beyond.

“Allianz Group has been a historical partner of the International Paralympic Committee since 2006. As Allianz Trade this makes Prometheus even closer to our heart and fully aligned with our values and our investment in science and innovation. This is the first step of a long journey: other concrete use cases are envisaged with Inclusive Brains such as the development of a mind-controlled keyboard and the exploitation of their AI models to improve safety in the workplace. We are convinced that generative AI combined with cutting-edge neural interfaces will accelerate the integration of people with disabilities and benefit all individuals equally,” adds Aylin Somersan Coqui, CEO of Allianz Trade.

“Following in the footsteps of the remote control who changed the lives of people with disabilities before it got adopted massively by the general population, our hardware agnostic gen AI-powered neural interfaces will pave the way for a new generation of smart tools and workstations that will assist everybody. Mind-controlling connected objects is something people have been doing for a while. Solutions enabling precise control with mental commands that can be used daily and at scale is the big challenge. This is why we needed to work with a global corporation sharing our values and vision to turn our innovation into a viable and scalable product. We are therefore delighted to be partnering with Allianz Trade, since our goals are aligned: to leverage technology and AI for the better good”, adds Paul Barbaste, Co-founder and CTO of Inclusive Brains.