Nigeria’s growing tech ambitions took center stage this week at GITEX Africa in Morocco, as the country positioned artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity as central to its vision for digital transformation—not just for itself, but for the entire continent.
Leading the charge was the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), whose Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, laid out a case for integrating AI into leadership and policy frameworks across Africa.
AI is shifting the skills we value and the way we work,” Inuwa said during a keynote panel on April 15.
It’s an ambitious vision for a country still grappling with foundational infrastructure issues, such as patchy broadband access and inconsistent power supply. But Nigeria is betting on a top-down strategy to carve out a leadership role in AI governance and innovation across Africa. That ambition was underscored by the launch of Nigeria’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy on the same day—unveiled by Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, in Lagos.
The AI roadmap is also getting global backing. In October 2024, Nigeria secured a ₦2.8 billion grant from Google to support the development of local AI talent—a move seen as critical for nurturing innovation from within. Still, critics argue that the country should prioritize urgent issues like energy access, food insecurity, and poverty before chasing frontier technologies.
But for leaders like Inuwa, the time is now. “We missed the first, second, and third industrial revolutions. This fourth one—we must lead, not follow,” he said.
Beyond AI, Nigeria is also ramping up efforts to strengthen its cybersecurity capabilities. At GITEX, NITDA signed an MoU with SecDojo, a cybersecurity training company headquartered in France, to launch a series of upskilling and capacity-building initiatives.
The collaboration will support the creation of a Cybersecurity Academy in Nigeria, featuring real-world simulation labs, specialized curricula, and talent development programs aimed at narrowing the global cyber skills gap.
The push comes at a critical time. Nigeria was recently ranked the 13th most vulnerable country to cyberattacks, according to Check Point Software Technologies’ Global Threat Index (December 2024).
Together, these efforts reflect Nigeria’s high-stakes bet: that by investing in the twin engines of AI and cybersecurity, the country can leapfrog infrastructure gaps and lead Africa into a smarter, more secure digital future.
At the signing of a new cybersecurity partnership in Marrakesh, Kashifu Inuwa, Director General of NITDA, made a case for turning Nigeria’s youthful population into a global cybersecurity workforce.
“Globally, there’s a skills gap. In Nigeria, we have a young population that—if properly harnessed—can be trained and connected to the global value chain to offer cybersecurity services and fill critical roles,” Inuwa said at the MoU signing ceremony on Monday, April 14.
The idea of digital talent as a national export isn’t new. The Nigerian government has leaned into this narrative through initiatives like the Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program. But while the demand for digital skills is undeniable, concerns about sustainability persist.
Much of Nigeria’s current training infrastructure is built around short-term accelerator programs. Inuwa now wants to see a deeper shift—one that embeds digital skills development within Nigeria’s formal education system.
“To truly prepare for the future, we must embed these skills into our national education framework,” he said, citing Cisco’s integration model in Nigerian universities as a potential path forward.
In Marrakesh, Nigeria made a strong pitch to be a digital talent hub for Africa—and perhaps the world. But whether the country can back up its global ambitions with local execution remains the real test.