In 2024, artificial intelligence is no longer confined to research labs or sci-fi movies. It is transforming global economies in real time.
From education to healthcare, agriculture to entertainment, AI is now the engine behind the world’s fastest-moving innovations.
It writes, predicts, diagnoses, recommends, automates, and creates. Whether we realize it or not, AI shapes the future of work, business, and human interaction.
But amid all the breakthroughs, a vital question lingers for Nigeria: will we build our future with AI or merely rent it from others? Will we be part of the architects of this new world—or simply its consumers?
This is not just a philosophical question. It is a national development issue with significant economic implications.
The countries that develop and control AI tools will hold a competitive edge for decades to come. They will own the data, shape the ethical frameworks, set the standards, and profit the most.
On the other hand, countries that rely entirely on imported AI tools risk being locked out of the most valuable aspects of the digital economy.
The decision for Nigeria—Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation—is urgent and far-reaching. We cannot afford to be on the sidelines. Investing in AI development could position Nigeria as a global leader in technology and drive economic growth and job creation.
Fortunately, we are not starting from zero. As of early 2024, Nigeria has become one of Africa’s most vibrant hubs for AI innovation.
The country now ranks second on the continent in the number of AI startups, behind only South Africa. Over 80 AI-focused companies operate across agriculture, health, education, fintech, and logistics sectors. These startups are not just copying Western solutions but creating tools built for the Nigerian context.
Take CDIAL, for instance—the Centre for the Digitization of Indigenous African Languages. Based in Lagos, CDIAL is working to ensure that AI systems can understand and process local languages like Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Tiv, etc.
This work is essential because linguistic representation is digital inclusion in an AI-driven world where voice assistants and text-based models dominate. When machines recognize and understand our languages, our people are seen and served.
Then, there is GMind AI, a productivity and ideation platform that helps entrepreneurs, content creators, and knowledge workers in Nigeria brainstorm, write, and generate insights using a localized AI engine.
GMind is just one of many examples of Nigerians building for Nigerians—leveraging AI to improve local workflows and amplify creativity.
Another standout story is Ubenwa, a Nigerian-born AI startup that uses infant cry analysis to detect health conditions like birth asphyxia in newborns.
These are not just success stories, they are beacons of hope, proving that world-class innovation can come from our soil.
These innovators are setting the pace, but they still need support—support that must come from government, academia, the private sector, and the general public.
Encouragingly, Nigeria’s government is beginning to act. In late 2023, the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy launched the Draft National Artificial Intelligence Strategy in collaboration with UNESCO.
This strategy provides a framework for responsible, inclusive, and purposeful AI development in Nigeria.
It highlights key sectors—agriculture, healthcare, and education—where AI could make a transformational impact if deployed at scale.
In addition to the strategy, the government introduced the Nigerian Artificial Intelligence Research Scheme. Through this program, 45 researchers were selected and awarded ₦5 million each to pursue AI-related projects.
These researchers, drawn from universities and institutions nationwide, tackle real-world challenges ranging from smart farming to healthcare diagnostics.
This is exactly the kind of foundational investment needed to foster an ecosystem of innovation—where our own researchers solve our own problems instead of depending entirely on foreign expertise.
Further, backing came in 2024 through a ₦100 million AI Startup Fund, created in partnership with Google.
Ten Nigerian AI startups received ₦10 million each, as well as access to technical mentorship, cloud tools, and Google’s global developer network.
This marks a promising start—but it must be the beginning of something much bigger. If Nigeria wants to lead in AI, these kinds of public-private partnerships are not just beneficial, they are crucial. Local venture capital must begin to see AI startups not just as risky bets, but as the backbone of tomorrow’s economy.
Compared to other African nations, Nigeria has several advantages: a large population, a youthful tech-savvy workforce, growing smartphone and internet penetration, and a dynamic startup culture. However, we’re still behind in certain areas.
Countries like Kenya and Rwanda have already developed full national AI policies and are investing in dedicated AI research and innovation centers.
A comprehensive national AI policy could provide a roadmap for AI development, guide investment decisions, and ensure that AI benefits all sectors of the economy. If Nigeria is to keep pace, we need more intentional coordination—not just policies on paper, but real implementation across agencies, states, and sectors.
Education remains a major hurdle. While Nigerian universities are full of potential, most of them still lack AI-focused curricula. Training in data science, machine learning, and ethics of AI is limited to a few departments or private boot camps.
The government’s 3MTT (Three Million Technical Talent) initiative, launched in 2023, aims to change this by training millions of Nigerians in software engineering, data, and AI-related skills.
However, to fully realize the potential of AI, we need to equip our workforce with the necessary skills. This requires not only scaling up existing initiatives but also updating university syllabi, fostering a culture of lifelong learning, and translating AI knowledge into jobs and products.
And that leads to a cautionary tale. While it is tempting—and easy—for businesses and government agencies to adopt powerful foreign AI tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or Google Bard, we must not fall into the trap of passive consumption.
These tools are incredible, yes. But if we rely exclusively on them, we hand over control of our data, narratives, and solutions to others. Worse still, we reinforce a digital dependency that limits our ability to grow, adapt, and protect ourselves.
We need AI tools that understand Nigerian traffic, climate, food systems, education styles, medical challenges, and languages—tools that reflect our values, ethics, and aspirations.
This means building open datasets from Nigerian sources, training models on local use cases, and creating platforms rooted in our reality.
It also means asking hard questions about who owns the data, who profits from it, and how we safeguard citizens’ rights in an increasingly algorithm-driven society.
Please make no mistake: we will continue to buy AI tools. There is no shame in that. But if we stop buying, we miss the point—and the opportunity. The goal must be to build. Build homegrown solutions. Build capacity.
Build regulations that empower innovation while protecting citizens. Build trust in our ability to create value with code and data.
The talent is here. Nigerian developers are building AI products for global companies. Our young people are winning hackathons and fellowships.
Our research institutions, though underfunded, are full of bright minds. What is needed now is belief—belief in local innovation, belief in our ability to lead, and belief that Nigeria can be more than a market for AI—we can be a force shaping it.
The AI gold rush is not a fleeting trend. It begins a new global era where data is power, and intelligence is the new infrastructure.
We cannot afford to watch from the sidelines while others build the tools of tomorrow. Let it be said that Nigeria stood up, invested in its people, nurtured its innovators, and helped write the code of the future.
*Babatunde Adegbite is a Nigerian software engineer and tech advocate passionate about building local solutions with global impact.
