President Bola Tinubu has stressed the need for Nigeria to lead artificial intelligence (AI) innovation in Africa and is ready to partner with Google to achieve this mission.
Tinubu stated this on his verified X handle, on Wednesday when he revealed details of his meeting with the Chief Executive Officer of Google and Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, in France.
The President revealed that the engagement with the Google CEO centred on advancing Nigeria’s role in AI and digital innovation.
“Nigeria is poised to take the lead in AI and technology—this is merely the start of an exciting journey.
“We are exploring partnership opportunities with Google, which will focus on five key areas: enhancing scalable cloud infrastructure, equipping our workforce with essential skills for the future, promoting AI innovation and research, driving cloud adoption, and elevating Nigeria’s standing in the global tech landscape as a hub for innovation and AI transition,” the President posted.
He noted that Nigeria already had some bright prospects in the AI space, including Awarri Technologies.
According to him, the Federal Government is currently collaborating with Awarri Technologies to build critical AI software infrastructure that will meet the needs of the Nigerian market.
Tinubu noted that the partnership conversation with Google aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda of his government, which, he said, emphasised economic diversification through industrialisation, digitization and innovation.
“This will empower businesses, create new opportunities, and establish Nigeria as a significant player in the global digital economy,” the president stated. He added that the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy would provide strategic oversight while NITDA would spearhead the implementation.
The Google CEO also confirmed the interaction with Nigeria’s President, when he posted on X, saying: “It was a great meeting with President Tinubu @officialABAT. We talked about the immense potential of AI in Nigeria, and how we can partner to expand AI skills, enable innovation, and support Nigeria’s growing tech ecosystem.
Recall that the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, had emphasised the importance of deploying (AI) across all the sectors of the economy.
Tijani in an interview ahead of the AI Action Summit in Paris, France said AI offers the country a chance to raise productivity in several key sectors of the economy, including agriculture, education and healthcare, among others.
According to him, many developed countries worry about job losses from automation, Nigeria’s young population with an average age of 16.9 years presents a chance to create new job opportunities.
He posited that AI could lower the cost of healthcare and improve the quality of education while generating new tech-focused jobs. While acknowledging that traditional roles may persist longer in Nigeria than in advanced economies, Tijani said: “The cost in terms of job loss is going to be extremely minimal. The traditional jobs won’t go away in our country anytime soon.”
But the opportunity that we have is that we can actually empower growth through the use of AI. Also, bear in mind that the future of the global workforce is actually in countries like Nigeria.
(The Guardian)
