The Nigerian government has awarded a total of N200 million in grants to 55 researchers and innovators through its tech programs, the Nigeria Artificial Intelligence Research Scheme (NAIRS) and Fourth Industrial Revolution Technology Application (4IRTA). This was disclosed by the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani.
The NAIRS scheme aims to foster a vibrant and sustainable AI ecosystem in Nigeria by providing grants and facilitating knowledge sharing and collaboration among individuals and organizations in the AI industry. The selected researchers will work on projects that tackle some of Nigeria’s pressing challenges and offer the potential to revolutionize industries, empower communities, and unlock a future full of possibilities.
Similarly, the 4IRTA program aims to deepen the application of agriculture technologies to boost food security. Ten startups were shortlisted to receive up to N10 million in funding to work on projects that support President Bola Tinubu’s mandate to cultivate 500,000 hectares of land across Nigeria.
The government is also working on harnessing the results of the research and solutions built by the innovators for the benefit of the economy. The Minister stated that they plan to expand the demonstration projects to other sectors such as education and healthcare.
In addition, the government has launched its Large Language Model, which is expected to position Nigeria as an AI leader in Africa. The LLM will be trained in 5 low-resource languages and accented English to ensure stronger language representation in existing datasets for the development of Artificial Intelligence solutions.
The government has also formed the AI Collective, which will collaborate on research, projects of interest, hackathons, and seminars to develop an inclusive approach to Nigeria’s AI initiatives. The National Artificial Intelligence Strategy draft document is currently being reviewed by MDAs and will be adopted as a national policy to guide all government efforts in AI.
The Nigerian government is taking significant steps to promote the development and adoption of artificial intelligence in the country. These initiatives have the potential to drive increased productivity, boost food security, and unlock a future full of possibilities for Nigeria.
