AI’s Role in Nigeria’s Future: A Vision from Minister Bosun Tijani

Bosun Tijani, Nigeria's Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, is confident that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the power to reshape Nigeria into an economic powerhouse. During a fireside chat at TechCabal's Moonshot event, he discussed how ignoring AI would be a failure for future generations.

Key highlights from his discussion:

• AI as a Game-Changer: Tijani emphasized AI’s ability to influence thinking, behaviors, and overall innovation. He argued that focusing on foundational issues like electricity and education, while important, shouldn’t take away from Nigeria’s potential leadership in AI development.
• Critics vs. Vision: Tijani has faced criticism for focusing on AI when Nigeria is still grappling with infrastructure challenges. However, he firmly believes that digitizing African data for large language models (LLMs) represents a huge business opportunity for Nigeria, potentially setting the continent up as a leader in the AI space.
• 5 Pillars of Nigeria's Digital Future:Talent Development: The minister is leading the ambitious 3 Million Technical Talents (3MTT) program, aiming to create a pool of skilled professionals and make Nigeria a "net exporter of talent."
  Infrastructure: The ministry is set to expand Nigeria’s fibre backbone to 125,000 km, crucial for scaling digital technologies. 🌐
  Pro-Innovation Policy: Tijani advocates for policies that support innovation over revenue generation.
• Legacy: Tijani wants to be remembered as the minister who built platforms—transforming Nigeria’s digital infrastructure, introducing GEO systems, and using technology to modernize government operations.

🌟 Minister Tijani’s vision focuses on building a future-ready Nigeria by tapping into AI, infrastructure, talent, and innovation.

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