Follow Us on Google
By Chinenye Anuforo
Technology experts, innovators and policymakers have renewed calls for Nigeria to prioritise the development of homegrown artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, warning that continued dependence on foreign-built systems could limit the technology’s relevance and impact on national development.
The call was made at the AI in Action Now 2026 conference in Lagos, where founders, engineers, students and government officials gathered to examine how artificial intelligence can be applied to Nigeria’s most pressing challenges. Discussions centred on the need for contextual AI systems designed with Nigeria’s languages, cultures, economic structures and governance realities in mind.
Speakers at the event argued that while global AI tools have accelerated awareness and adoption, many are poorly suited to local conditions. Imported models, they said, often struggle with Nigeria’s linguistic diversity, informal economic systems and sector-specific nuances, particularly in healthcare, finance and public administration.
The Convener of the conference, Debola Ibiyode, said Nigeria must move beyond being a consumer of global technology and begin to deliberately build solutions rooted in its own environment. According to her, contextual AI offers faster, more effective outcomes because it reflects how Nigerians live, transact and interact.
She explained that sectors such as healthcare and finance suffer when AI systems are trained on foreign datasets that do not capture local disease patterns, patient behaviour or transaction flows. “Solutions built for other regions cannot always respond adequately to our realities,” she said.
Experts at the conference also linked the push for local AI to concerns around data sovereignty and national security. They argued that relying heavily on foreign platforms means sensitive data is often processed outside Nigeria’s regulatory control, raising questions about privacy, accountability and long-term dependency.
Beyond governance concerns, speakers highlighted the economic implications of local AI development. According to them, building domestic AI capacity could unlock productivity gains across logistics, agriculture, education and small businesses, while also creating opportunities for Nigeria’s growing youth population.
Nigeria produces about one million graduates annually, many of whom, experts said, could be absorbed into an AI-enabled economy if solutions are designed to augment human work rather than replace it.
However, participants cautioned against uncritical enthusiasm. Dotun Adeoye, Co-founder of AI Nigeria, noted that while a large proportion of Nigerians already interact with AI-powered tools, meaningful business and institutional adoption remains limited. He warned that not every technical gap represents a viable market and stressed the importance of ethical, human-centred design.
“There is a gap in the market, but that doesn’t always mean there is a market in the gap,” Adeoye said, urging developers to focus on real problems with clear value propositions.
Government representatives at the conference signalled openness to deeper collaboration with the private sector. The Lagos State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Biodun Ogunleye, said data-driven intelligence has become essential for modern governance, from managing transport systems to improving revenue collection.
He emphasised that the government’s role is to enable innovation rather than compete with businesses. According to him, partnerships with the private sector would be key to deploying scalable AI solutions that deliver measurable benefits to citizens.
As deliberations ended, participants agreed that Nigeria has the talent, tools and urgent needs required to justify a strong push for local AI development. What remains, they said, is coordinated action through policy, investment and public–private collaboration to ensure that artificial intelligence developed for Nigeria is also built in Nigeria.
The consensus from the conference was clear: the future of AI in the country will not be determined by how quickly Nigerians adopt foreign tools, but by how effectively local expertise is harnessed to solve local problems.
