Afrigather Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economic system, mentioned synthetic intelligence (AI) can remodel the nation into an financial powerhouse.
“We’d have failed our individuals and the long run technology if we sleep on synthetic intelligence as a result of these are a set of applied sciences that can management what you assume, the way you assume, and the way you do all the pieces,” he mentioned throughout a hearth chat with Tomiwa Aladekomo, CEO Massive Cabal Media at Moonshot by TechCabal on Wednesday in Lagos.
One of many largest criticisms the minister has confronted in his first 12 months in workplace has come from the ministry’s synthetic intelligence efforts. In August 2024, the ministry launched the primary draft of the nationwide AI technique and not too long ago launched an AI collective backed by $1.5 million in funding. Nonetheless, critics say Nigeria’s AI ambitions are untimely, citing present infrastructure issues.
Bosun Tijani disagrees.
“The fact is that should you’re going to be visionary about it, there’s completely no approach you concentrate on weaker issues,” Tijani mentioned about public opinions deriding the federal government for ignoring issues like electrical energy and schooling.
The minister believes that there’s an financial alternative for Nigeria to digitise the info that enormous language fashions (LLMs) require to perform. AI instruments don’t presently possess quite a lot of context on Africa and that hole might be crammed by Nigerians.
“It’s a enterprise alternative that continents like Africa needs to be main,” Tijani mentioned. He additionally thinks that the AI push from his ministry is future-proofing Nigerians forward of the unreal intelligence age.
Tijani has his thoughts set on how know-how can enhance Nigeria and for anybody who cares to pay attention, he believes that there are 5 pillars that his ministry can construct its basis on.
The primary pillar of the ministry’s strategic plan is expertise and the ministry needs to put money into the “foundational set of abilities that may drive progress,” referencing the formidable Three Million Technical Skills (3MTT) programme that goals to create a pipeline of human capital and make Nigeria a “internet exporter of expertise.”
“If know-how is to really assist drive progress in Nigeria, the federal government should put money into expertise very early,” he mentioned.
One other pillar of that agenda is laying the infrastructure for Nigeria’s digital economic system. “With out connectivity, there’s no digital applied sciences that may actually scale,” he mentioned. The ministry plans to put a further 90,000km of fibre spine to deliver Nigeria’s whole spine community to 125,000km.
The third pillar of that agenda is coverage. “Our insurance policies needs to be pro-innovation and never simply be there for revenues,” he mentioned.
However maybe the easiest way to consider Tijani’s thirty-minute session is what he needs his legacy to be. The minister informed over 3,000 founders, enterprise leaders, innovators, enterprise capitalists, and regulators that he needs to be remembered because the minister who constructed platforms.
He sees platforms via a three-pronged method the place he needs to extend Nigeria’s spine fibre community; introduce a GEO system in Nigeria and remodel how the federal government makes use of know-how.
