In its plan to harness Artificial Intelligence (AI) potential responsibly and inclusively, the federal government has approved the establishment of the National Artificial Intelligence Trust.
In Tuesday’s announcement made via a X post, the Minister of Communications, Innovations, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani expressed that the final approval of the project by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) will make Nigeria a leading voice in Artificial Intelligence.
“Our commitment to position Nigeria as a leading voice in Artificial Intelligence received a significant boost with the approval of the establishment of the National Artificial Intelligence Trust by FEC,” he said.
Tijani expressed that the National Artificial Intelligence Trust, the first of its kind globally, will consist of 10 AI experts as well as the Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy, and the Honourable Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.
Stressing its significance, the minister added that the project aims at mobilizing resources, providing oversight and also guiding the development of Artificial Intelligence in Nigeria.
“The Trust will also help future-proof our investment in AI across key sectors of the economy, in recognition of the transformative power of the technology in driving job creation and attracting foreign direct investment,” he added.
In August 2023, the Ministry announced its plans to create the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy for Nigeria to responsibly steer the revolution towards achieving national goals around job creation, social inclusion, and sustainable development.
It also aims to build on the National Information Technology Development Agency’s (NITDA) plan to develop a National AI strategy by including top Artificial Intelligence researchers of Nigerian descent globally.
“We’re curating a list of the top researchers of Nigerian descent from all over the world to join us in co-creating a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy. The strategy will help shape our approach to building innovative tech solutions to our most pressing national problems,” the Minister said in 2023.
The goal, as stated, is to enhance the tech landscape by incorporating insights from those who have previously engaged with the Nigerian market, ultimately leading to more effective and impactful innovations in the field of technology.
The intensification of its effort continued last August when the Ministry released the draft of Nigeria’s first National Artificial Intelligence Strategy. The strategy was co-created by the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) with support from private bodies.
The objective was structured to establish Nigeria as a global leader in Artificial Intelligence and to foster sustainable development through ethical innovation and collaborative efforts.
Also Read: DeepTech_Ready: FG to train 20,000 Nigerians on AI and data science.
Asides AI, FG to digitally connect more Nigerians
In addition to the National Artificial Intelligence Trust approval, the federal government also supported the establishment of the Nigeria Universal Communication Access Project, under a Private-Public Partnership (PPP) funding model.
The minister, who also made the announcement, said the broadband initiative is in support of its broader connectivity objectives in the strategic blueprint infrastructure pillar.
Linking the project to the 90,000km fibre fund, Tijani emphasized that it aims to connect more than 21 million people across 4,834 communities in Nigeria who are technologically underserved, most especially rural communities.
“The project, which complements Project Bridge (our 90,000km Fibre Fund) will aim to connect over 21 million people across 4,834 communities in Nigeria today that lack the most basic mobile communications access, particularly in remote rural areas,” the minister said in the post.
Recall that in January, the United States government awarded a $2,095,000 grant to Nigeria to help boost the country’s digital infrastructure. The fund was stated to be invested into deploying 90,000 kilometres of new fibre optic backbone infrastructure across Nigeria.
The tech grant aligns with Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 which focuses on improving the country’s broadband penetration from 42.27 per cent to 70 per cent. It also aims to ensure that no less than 90 per cent of Nigeria’s population has access to affordable and reliable broadband coverage.
“Access to connectivity is a service that many of us take for granted, so delivering additional base stations to cater to unserved and underserved areas will ultimately contribute to improving quality of life for more of our fellow citizens,” Tijani noted.
The Ministry in its continued effort to transform Nigeria into a leading hub for digital skills and development launched the DeepTech_Ready Upskilling program last week. The initiative is designed to train 20,000 youths on advanced competencies in the field of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence to prepare them for careers in this rapidly growing field.
Courses to be offered include Advanced Data Analysis and Visualization, Data Science/Machine Learning, Data Architecture, Geospatial Data Science, and Computer Vision. Others are Natural Language Processing and Advanced Machine Learning Techniques.
The 6-month per cohort program training will be a combination of self-paced and on-site learning with online support.
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