Nigerian Officials are Banking On a New Investment Fund for Artificial Intelligence
Key African officials participate in a discussion on AI funding and innovation at a major tech conference.
It is “a critical step in taking advantage of future technologies to develop homegrown innovation that addresses local challenges,” Nigeria’s digital economy minister Bosun Tijani, whose office will supervise the fund, said. He recently published a draft of the country’s national AI strategy, a document produced after a year of collaboration between AI researchers of Nigerian descent. A program to train three million tech specialists is another pillar of his plan. Tijani has made AI advancement the centerpiece of his agenda since being tapped for the role last year, based on his reputation as a key architect of Nigeria’s tech ecosystem that has produced four of Africa’s seven billion-dollar startups.