The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said that Nigeria is co-creating its artificial intelligence (AI) governance framework with innovators, startups, and industry stakeholders to ensure responsible and inclusive growth of the technology.
NITDA’s Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, stated this during a plenary session themed “Technology, Migration & Trade Representation” at the Stakeholders’ Interactive Engagement with the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance held at the State House in Abuja.
He said the country’s AI agenda is guided by collaboration rather than top-down policymaking, adding that Nigeria’s governance framework for AI is being developed with the ecosystem to promote sustainability.
“We cannot build this future in silos. We are working hand in hand with innovators, industry leaders, and the global community to create policies that safeguard innovation while protecting citizens,” Inuwa said.
Anchored in a renewed hope agenda
Inuwa noted that Nigeria’s AI strategy aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which emphasizes digitalization, innovation, and inclusivity as tools for economic diversification.
- He said the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy’s roadmap reflects this vision, guiding NITDA’s initiatives to transform Nigeria into a leading digital economy in Africa.
- He added that the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy provides a framework for developing digital infrastructure, expanding connectivity, building sovereign cloud platforms, and creating representative national datasets that ensure Nigeria’s people and culture are visible in the AI-driven world.
Highlighting local progress, Inuwa described the launch of Nigeria’s National Multilingual Large Language Model (LLM) in New York as a major step toward building indigenous AI solutions.
“For us, it is important that our languages, our culture, and our people are represented in the AI of the future,” he said.
He also emphasized inclusivity as a key pillar of NITDA’s innovation drive, noting that all agency-led initiatives mandate at least 40% women’s participation.
Through the Nigerian Startup Act, he said, the government is creating an enabling environment for startups and innovators to thrive.
AI to drive sectoral transformation
According to Inuwa, Nigeria is integrating AI across key sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, and education to boost efficiency and productivity.
He explained that AI will complement, not replace, human effort, enabling professionals to work smarter and deliver faster.
“With AI, our doctors can diagnose faster, our farmers can predict yields better, and our manufacturers can eliminate inefficiencies. That’s the kind of leap Nigeria is preparing for,” he said.
Inuwa concluded that Nigeria’s co-creation approach will ensure that AI policies not only protect citizens but also enable innovation to flourish.
“Our journey is not just about technology, it’s about people, prosperity, and positioning Nigeria as a global leader in shaping the AI future,” he added.
What you should know
As part of its efforts to take a leadership position in the AI space, Nigeria recently launched the Nigerian Atlas for Languages & AI at Scale (N-ATLAS), an open-source multilingual LLM developed in partnership with Awarri Technologies.
The N-ATLAS is a multilingual, multimodal, open-source large language model (LLM) designed to map and digitize Nigeria’s rich linguistic heritage while building datasets to power inclusive AI solutions.
- Designed to digitise and preserve Nigeria’s more than 500 languages, N-ATLAS provides datasets that can underpin AI-driven solutions across education, health, commerce, and governance.
- Importantly, the ATLAS framework is open to other African countries, offering a regional platform for innovation in local languages. With more than 2,000 languages spoken across the continent, most of which are underrepresented in global AI models, the project is seen as a step toward ensuring Africa’s digital sovereignty.
