Nigeria’s tech ambitions were on full display this week at GITEX Africa in Morocco, where the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) pitched to the international audience a future shaped by artificial intelligence in Nigeria and cybersecurity, two pillars it hopes will define the country’s next phase of digital transformation.
Kashifu Inuwa, NITDA’s Director General, made a case for integrating AI as a strategic layer in leadership and policy execution for governments and businesses across Africa.
“AI is shifting the skills we value today, as well as the processes we use to do our daily work,” he said during a panel session at the main stage on Tuesday, April 15. “To drive strategic leadership, you need to be an AI-driven leader and find a way to use AI as a tool to create co-intelligence whereby you bring people and computers to work together to deliver your strategic vision as a leader,” he noted.
It’s a bold proposition for a country that still struggles with the fundamentals, including broadband coverage and limited digital infrastructure. But NITDA is betting on a top-down push to position Nigeria and, by extension, Africa as a global force in AI governance and innovation. On Tuesday, April 15, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani launched the country’s National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy in Lagos.
Nigeria’s AI push is backed by government ambition and funding from international partners. In October 2024, the ministry announced a ₦2.8 billion Google grant to promote AI talent development in Nigeria. Though critics have said Nigeria must address fundamental problems such as reliable electricity, food security, and poverty before pushing broader tech ambitions. But the country’s leadership sees AI as a historic opportunity to claim a stake in the global tech future.
“We missed the first, second, and third industrial revolutions, but this fourth one, we must lead it and not just follow,” Inuwa added on the panel.
Not just AI, but cybersecurity too
In addition to its AI pitch, NITDA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with SecDojo, SAS, a France-headquartered cybersecurity training and upskilling company, for targeted capacity-building initiatives. This forms part of the regulator’s effort to enhance Nigeria’s cyber resilience. Nigeria is ranked as the 13th most vulnerable country to cyberattacks, according to Check Point Software Technologies’ December 2024 Global Threat Index.
The deal will support the creation of a cybersecurity academy in Nigeria, with training programs, simulation environments, and curriculum development aimed at filling the global cyber talent gap.
“Globally, we have the gap, and in Nigeria, we have a young population that if we harness well, we can train them and connect them with the global value chain to provide cybersecurity services and also to fill some roles and gaps in the global cybersecurity market,” Inuwa said at the MoU signing ceremony on Monday, April 14.
Digital talent as export is a familiar theme from the Nigerian government, evident by the three million technical talents (3MTT) programme. While the need for talent is real, so is the question of sustainability. Inuwa himself noted that much of Nigeria’s current digital skills training is delivered through short-term acceleration programs. He’s now pushing for integration into the formal education system.
“To prepare for the future, we must embed these skills into our national education framework,” he said, pointing to Cisco’s model of academic integration in Nigerian universities as a possible blueprint.
In Marrakesh, Nigeria made its case. Whether it sticks will depend on what happens back home.
