Nigeria set to launch another $1.5 million AI support fund—Bosun Tijani 

The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has said that the government is about to launch another $1.5 million initiative to support the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the country.

The Minister disclosed this on Wednesday in an interview with Arise TV on the outcome of his participation at the just concluded United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

According to Tijani, the fund to be launched on October 7th in Abuja is support from Luminate, a global foundation working to ensure that everyone has the information, rights, and power to influence the decisions that affect their lives.

This is coming a few weeks after the Ministry launched a N100 million AI Fund in collaboration with Google, which, however, was criticized by the tech community for being too insignificant to power the AI revolution.

Pooling resources for AI 

While noting that the criticism of the N100 million AI fund earlier launched was due to a misunderstanding, Tijani said people focused on the surface number without recognizing the additional support and broader efforts the government was undertaking to secure more resources.

“Our strategy with AI isn’t to limit it to local resources—we are pooling resources together. On the 7th of October in Abuja, we are launching an additional $1.5 million in support from Luminate,” he declared.

The Minister added that another initiative the Ministry is working on is the National Artificial Intelligence Trust, in collaboration with AI Collaborative, which will focus on using local languages in AI development.

“The Trust will be a body that ensures AI development in Nigeria is ethical, safe, and sustainable, working alongside the government to drive growth.  

“As we build our large language models and digitize our data, we’ll be able to monetize these efforts, with proceeds going back into the Trust to support further AI development,” he said.

Tackling grassroots challenges with technology 

When asked about the balance between high-level tech initiatives and addressing grassroots challenges, Tijani acknowledged that large-scale projects may not receive immediate praise or be easily understood by all.

• However, he emphasized the long-term benefits of these initiatives, particularly in areas such as infrastructure development.

• “Technology’s role in society is to enable progress, and that doesn’t happen overnight,” he said, highlighting the government’s ongoing project to lay 90,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables across Nigeria.

• According to Tijani, while the project will take 18 months to secure the $2 billion funding and another 2-3 years for full installation, it remains crucial for the country’s future.

“I don’t expect immediate applause, because it will take time. But I can’t ignore such a project just because there’s poverty; in the short to medium term, projects like this will alleviate many issues,” he said.

• Tijani also noted that the government’s 3 million Technical Talent (3MT) initiative is already delivering tangible benefits, providing job opportunities for many Nigerians, especially those trained under its programs.

• Additionally, the government’s 774 Project aims to connect local government secretariats to improve grassroots-level service delivery.

What you should know 

At the end of the National AI workshop convened by the Ministry in April this year, the Minister had announced the launch of AI Collective, a community of practice collaborating towards accelerating the nation’s collective prosperity through an inclusive AI Ecosystem.

• Following that, Luminate announced plans to provide $1.5 million over the next three years to support the work of the three organizations managing the AI Collective: Data Science Nigeria, Lagos Business School, and the Center for Journalism, Innovation, and Development.

• The funding will enable the three organizations to bring together expertise from civil society, academia, tech, and other sectors to work on governance, research, and innovation.
• The AI Collective is housed within the National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR).