The Federal Government of Nigeria is attempting to establish an Artificial Intelligence fund in order to boost the country’s technological capacity, and it is looking to the business sector for assistance.
The Times reported that this was revealed by the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, at the Zenith Bank Tech Fair 2023 opening ceremony in Lagos.
According to Tijani, the reason the country falls behind in AI is that there hasn’t been any major investment in the field recently.
Nonetheless, he stated that the fund’s goal is to position Nigeria as a leader in AI globally during the following four years. He continued by saying that this is possible with the assistance of the private sector as the government alone cannot fund it.
“The government does not have to work alone when it comes to the application and development of AI. Furthermore, it is crucial that you consider efficient intelligence inside the framework of your own organization, even as organizations such as Zenith Bank consider it. When AI is given priority in our culture, it grows more potent and beneficial.
“We as a nation, are launching an AI fund, where government and private sector will put money together to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence in Nigeria. When we use it in education or in transportation, it allows companies like Zenith to try and do better.”
The Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, stated in his opening remarks at the Tech Fair that the bank views itself as a technology company licensed to conduct banking business. He believes that any business that hopes to stay relevant in the future needs to adopt technology.
“To be relevant, a company must either be in the technology sector or be leveraging technology to provide the appropriate, unique set of data services. We consider ourselves to be a technological business with a banking license because of this. You have to integrate more technology into your firm if you want to be relevant in the future.”
“We started developing a new digital interface with the necessary features and accessories around 12 years ago, so no matter what program you use, we can communicate with you anywhere on earth. I’ll just say that we’re ready,” the GMD stated.
This year marks the third edition of the two-day Zenith Bank Tech Fair, which connects tech players from throughout Nigeria to steer the nation’s digital growth in a new direction.
Additionally, the fully funded event by Zenith Banks offers an opportunity for several tech companies in to exhibit their products for free.
