Nigeria is moving to formally anchor artificial intelligence within its governance framework as a comprehensive national strategy awaits legislative approval.
The Federal Government has completed work on the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, a policy blueprint intended to guide the development, regulation and responsible deployment of AI technologies across the country. Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, revealed that the strategy has moved beyond the drafting stage and is expected to be presented to the National Assembly within the next one or two weeks for final approval.
He made the disclosure during a keynote address at the Crisis Management Advocacy Month 2026 Conference in Lagos, a gathering of policymakers, technology experts and industry leaders examining emerging digital risks and the evolving systems required to manage them.
At its core, the strategy reflects Nigeria’s ambition to position itself as a leading artificial intelligence hub in West Africa, with a broader goal of emerging as a global AI player by 2030. Minister Tijani also highlighted a notable milestone: the development of a government-backed large language model, making Nigeria the first African country to build such a system capable of understanding and communicating in Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and Ibibio, in addition to English. The initiative ensures that Nigeria’s linguistic diversity and local context are represented within the rapidly expanding global AI ecosystem.
First introduced in 2024 and rolled out nationwide in 2025, the strategy is built around five key priorities which includes; establishing foundational infrastructure such as high-performance computing centres, upgraded data centres and clean-energy-powered AI clusters to support advanced research and innovation.
Another pillar focuses on talent development, with plans to create Centres of Excellence and innovation hubs to nurture a new generation of AI researchers, engineers and innovators. The framework also encourages the accelerated adoption of AI across critical sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, energy, finance and public services, where intelligent technologies could significantly enhance productivity and service delivery.
The policy further embeds ethical safeguards to ensure fairness, transparency and accountability, alongside governance structures designed to provide effective regulatory oversight of AI development and deployment in Nigeria.
Implementation will rely on strong collaboration between public institutions, startups, academic bodies and private-sector partners, supported by funding mechanisms, monitoring frameworks and milestone tracking aimed at expanding AI research capacity and strengthening skills development nationwide.
The initiative is being led by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, with technical backing from the National Information Technology Development Agency and its National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, while the Nigerian Communications Commission and Galaxy Backbone are also contributing to the effort.
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