The Federal Government has awarded N200 million in grants to 55 Nigerian researchers and innovators through two tech programs, the Nigeria Artificial Intelligence Research Scheme and the Fourth Industrial Revolution Technology Application (4IRTA).
This was disclosed by the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter).
Dr. Tijani highlighted that the government is now focused on leveraging the research outcomes and innovative solutions developed by these recipients to benefit the economy. “After awarding grants totaling N200 million under these two thematic programs to 55 Nigerian researchers and innovators, we are collating the outcomes of their demonstration projects to scale relevant solutions to businesses and drive increased productivity,” he stated. The Minister also mentioned plans to expand these projects into other sectors, such as education and healthcare.
Under the NAIRS initiative, the Ministry selected 45 Nigerian researchers in December last year to receive grants for the development of their AI projects. The selected researchers span various sectors, including healthcare, agriculture, finance, and education. According to Dr. Tijani, the scheme aims to foster a vibrant and sustainable AI ecosystem in Nigeria by supporting knowledge sharing, collaboration, and innovative solutions to pressing national challenges.
In a similar vein, the 4IRTA program shortlisted 10 startups in January this year to receive up to N10 million in funding. These startups are focused on advancing agricultural technologies, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s mandate to cultivate 500,000 hectares of land across Nigeria to enhance food security.
As part of the administration’s efforts to promote artificial intelligence development and adoption, Dr. Tijani revealed that the draft of Nigeria’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy is currently being reviewed by government ministries, departments, and agencies. Once finalized, this strategy will guide AI-related government efforts and policies.
Additionally, the government has formed the AI Collective, a group that will collaborate on research, projects, hackathons, and seminars to ensure an inclusive approach to Nigeria’s AI initiatives.
In a move to position Nigeria as a leader in AI across Africa, the government recently launched its Large Language Model. This AI tool is being developed to include five low-resource languages and accented English, aiming to strengthen language representation in AI datasets.
The LLM project is being spearheaded by Nigerian startup Awarri, in partnership with DataDotOrg, the National Information Technology Development Agency, and the National Centre for AI and Robotics.
