Nigeria's AI Center Outlines Strategic Plan for National AI Assimilation
In a significant stride towards digital transformation, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has unveiled its AI Transformation Roadmap at the Nigeria AI Scaling Hub Visioning Workshop held at the Lagos Business School in early August 2025.
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the Director General of NITDA, presented the roadmap, emphasizing its role in making AI a key tool for research, planning, and execution across various sectors. The roadmap is a structured plan to integrate AI technologies nationally, driving digital transformation and innovation aligned with Nigeria’s digital economy goals.
The AI Transformation Roadmap identifies priority sectors such as health, agriculture, and education, and outlines frameworks for implementation, capacity building, and ecosystem development. The focus is on leveraging AI to improve healthcare delivery and diagnostics, boost agriculture productivity through data and automation, and adopt AI tools for personalized learning and expanded access in education.
The Visioning Workshop, heavily supported by strategic partners including government bodies and private sector stakeholders, aimed to build a collaborative AI ecosystem in Nigeria. The event gathered stakeholders including technology experts, policymakers, and sector representatives to co-create a national AI integration strategy that fosters innovation while addressing Nigeria’s unique challenges and opportunities.
Abdullahi emphasized the importance of AI in improving regulation and policy development, suggesting it as a "thought partner" to enhance decision-making across all sectors. He also stressed the need for democratizing access to AI technologies to ensure inclusivity in its benefits.
The federal government, under Abdullahi’s leadership, is committed to fostering an AI-friendly environment for innovation. The goal is to move AI from research labs into communities to solve local problems and improve livelihoods, supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's vision of a $1 trillion economy.
The event was graced by the presence of the Gates Foundation, which served as a core partner. The goal is to leverage AI to streamline regulation and policy development processes, ultimately helping policymakers work more effectively and precisely. The AI Transformation Roadmap is a present reality actively transforming industries, and the workshop served as a pivotal platform to communicate this roadmap and foster multi-sector collaboration to scale AI solutions in Nigeria’s most impactful areas.
In conclusion, the Nigeria AI Scaling Hub Visioning Workshop marked a significant step towards integrating AI across Nigeria, with a focus on underserved communities to support economic growth and improve livelihoods. Collaboration among stakeholders is encouraged to create inclusive AI solutions for critical sectors like health, agriculture, and education.
The AI Transformation Roadmap, in alignment with Nigeria's digital economy goals, prioritizes sectors such as education, outlining a strategy for adopting AI tools to facilitate personalized learning and expand access. Furthermore, the roadmap emphasizes the integration of AI technology in sectors like health and agriculture, aiming to leverage artificial-intelligence for improved healthcare delivery, diagnostics, agriculture productivity, and data automation.
