Microsoft has urged Nigeria to go from artificial intelligence (AI) policy formation to practical implementation, asking the country to employ emerging technologies to produce demonstrable benefits in governance, economic efficiency and social development.
Mrs Nonye Ujam, Director, Government Affairs, West Africa, Microsoft, made the call at the AI Summit Nigeria, in Abuja on Tuesday.
The summit was themed: “From Policy to Progress: Accelerating Responsible AI Adoption for Nigeria’s Digital Decade” and was organised by Microsoft in partnership with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Ujam praised Nigeria’s strides in laying the groundwork for AI growth through the National AI Strategy, data governance frameworks and regulatory reforms, saying the country was set to play a pivotal role in the global digital economy.
But the focus now, she added, should move from developing plans to ensuring that AI solutions are applied efficiently and can deliver actual results.
“Operationalising AI to deliver real and measurable outcomes is translating ambition into impact. “That requires the right systems, governance frameworks, infrastructure and institutional capacity to enable adoption at scale,” she said.
She said that the success of AI deployment in Nigeria hinges on gaining public confidence through responsible practices based on safety, fairness, privacy, openness and accountability.
She said AI may assist Nigeria improve the delivery of public services, extend access to information, improve productivity and raise its competitiveness in the global technology ecosystem.
Kashifu Inuwa, the Director-General of NITDA, who was represented by the Acting Director of Regulation and Compliance, Emmanuel Edet, said AI had become a revolutionary technology that could impact every area of the economy.
Inuwa said Nigeria should not only be a consumer of global AI solutions but should be able to develop indigenous capabilities to solve local problems.
“If there’s no public trust, AI adoption will be held up. “If there is no accountability, then innovation will not scale sustainably and if there is no transparency, people will lose confidence in the systems designed to serve them,” he warned.
He urged for greater investment in the development of local talent, research ecosystems, and laws that incentivise Nigerian and African inventors to build indigenous AI solutions.
“We need to develop intelligence that is rooted in our realities and responsive to our aspirations,” he remarked.
The NITDA boss said the future of artificial intelligence should not only be in Africa but should be designed by Africans.
The summit gathered stakeholders from government agencies and the corporate sector including representatives from the Nigeria Customs Service, National Identity Management Commission and Galaxy Backbone to discuss how to fast track responsible AI deployment across Nigeria.
The event is coming at a time of rising efforts by the Federal Government and technology partners to make Nigeria a prominent hub for digital innovation and development of artificial intelligence.
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