Nigeria is positioning itself as a global leader in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution with a National AI Strategy, targeting $15 billion contribution to the nation’s GDP and equipping 70 percent of its youthful workforce with AI skills by 2030.
The announcement, highlighted by Oluwaseun Dania, managing director of Alpha-Geek Technologies, during the United Nations General Assembly’s Global Dialogue on AI Governance in New York, underscores Nigeria’s commitment to harnessing AI for economic growth and equitable innovation.
The National AI Strategy, spearheaded by president Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration through the minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, is a collaborative effort with the Nigerian Artificial Intelligence Research Scheme (NAIRS) and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR). The blueprint projects a 27 percent annual market expansion through 2030, positioning AI as a cornerstone of Nigeria’s digital economy. The strategy focuses on leveraging AI to bridge infrastructure gaps, drive fintech innovations, and foster stablecoin initiatives, while prioritizing ethical innovation and skills development.
Speaking at the UN, Dania, a prominent voice in African technology, emphasized that Nigeria’s approach is not just about economic gains but about uplifting lives. “The success of the AI revolution should be measured by lives uplifted, not merely GDP spikes,” he said, highlighting Nigeria’s mobile-first AI adoption and its potential to empower the world’s youngest workforce.
With over 60 percent of Nigeria’s population under 25, the goal of equipping 70 percent of young Nigerians with AI capabilities by 2030 is a transformative step toward building a skilled, future-ready generation.The strategy addresses both opportunities and challenges.
Dania warned of AI’s risks, including deepfakes eroding trust, biased algorithms perpetuating inequality, and data monopolies exacerbating global divides.
To counter these, Nigeria’s plan incorporates African-led ethical standards, drawing on the communal value of ubuntu (humanity toward others), to ensure privacy-by-design and bias audits. It also emphasises resilient infrastructure, such as predictive analytics for pandemics and energy optimisation, while safeguarding against the misuse of AI.
Dania stressed that Nigeria’s vision aligns with broader African priorities for equitable AI access, ethical safeguards, and infrastructure investment, adding that, “Africa is ready to co-create, not merely comply,” he declared, urging global stakeholders to include the continent’s 1.4 billion voices in shaping AI governance.
