Nigerian Researchers Develop Assistive Technology for Banknote Recognition

In line with global calls for inclusive innovation, Nigerian researchers Sochukwuma Nwokoye and Desmond Moru have designed a pioneering assistive technology that leverages artificial intelligence to improve daily independence for visually impaired individuals. Their work directly addresses a pressing social challenge: enabling the visually impaired to confidently identify Nigerian currency denominations, thereby enhancing financial inclusion.

Access to financial autonomy remains a critical barrier for people living with visual disabilities in Nigeria and across Sub-Saharan Africa. Traditional solutions, such as tactile marks on banknotes or manual assistance, often prove unreliable or limiting. Recognizing this gap, the researchers developed a currency detection model based on the Single Shot Detector (SSD) framework, a deep learning architecture widely used in real-time object recognition.

A dataset of approximately 3,468 images of Nigerian banknotes was collected under varying lighting and positional conditions to ensure robustness. The model was trained to detect and classify multiple denominations, achieving a mean average precision (mAP) exceeding 90%. This performance level positions the system as both technically viable and ready for practical adaptation into real-world assistive devices.

This innovation highlights how machine learning can be harnessed for social equity. For the visually impaired community, such a tool ensures:

Financial Inclusion: Greater ability to participate in cash-based transactions without external dependence.

Daily Independence: Reduced vulnerability to fraud or misidentification of notes.

Accessibility Integration: Potential deployment through mobile applications, smart glasses, or handheld devices.

Beyond individual impact, the project signals a pathway for policy integration, aligning with Nigeria’s National Policy on Inclusive Education and broader UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities and SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure).

For academic and policy stakeholders, this project exemplifies how applied AI research in Nigeria can address localized challenges with scalable global relevance. By embedding inclusivity into design, it demonstrates the role of higher education, research funding, and government support in advancing technologies that not only innovate but also empower marginalized populations.

The Nigerian Currency Detection AI system stands as a landmark in assistive technology research, bridging the gap between cutting-edge machine learning and social responsibility. Its future development — whether through institutional partnerships, government adoption, or NGO support , could transform the everyday lives of millions of visually impaired Nigerians, setting a precedent for accessible innovation across Africa and beyond.