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Google Pledges N3 Billion to Support the Development of Nigeria’s National AI Strategy
On Friday, Google, through its charitable branch Google.org, announced a pledge of N3 billion to help boost Nigeria’s national AI strategy and speed up the country’s digital transformation. This money will go towards training people in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and making Nigeria’s internet space safer.
The announcement came during a press event in Lagos, where officials shared details about the plan. The focus is on two main areas: building advanced AI skills and improving cybersecurity across the board.
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Google pledges N3 billion to support Nigeria’s national AI strategy by partnering with five local groups. These are FATE Foundation, African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, African Technology Forum, Junior Achievement Africa, and CyberSafe Foundation. Each of these organisations will handle different parts of the project, such as adding AI courses to university programs, running challenges for developers to create new AI solutions, and teaching young people how to stay safe online.
This move fits right into Nigeria’s national AI strategy, which aims to train lots of skilled workers and build a secure digital space for everyone. Google highlighted that this kind of support is urgently needed because Nigeria currently lacks enough AI experts, and cyber threats are a growing concern.
A big part of the plan is focused on learning and innovation. For example, FATE Foundation and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences will work together to bring advanced AI teaching to both students and teachers. Meanwhile, the African Technology Forum will run an innovation challenge that helps developers move from simply learning AI to actually creating useful AI products.
On the safety side, Junior Achievement Africa will extend its Be Internet Awesome program to equip young people with knowledge about staying safe online. The CyberSafe Foundation will also step up efforts to improve cybersecurity in public institutions to guard sensitive information.
The government is optimistic that this partnership and funding will strengthen Nigeria’s digital infrastructure and encourage the use of technology in different industries. Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, said the investment supports the National AI Strategy and will help Nigerian innovators compete on the world stage when it comes to AI.
Olumide Balogun, Google’s Director for West Africa, described the N3 billion pledge as a people-first investment designed to build skills and create safe digital environments for Nigerians.
This new funding builds on Google’s past efforts in the country, including projects like the Equiano subsea cable and last year’s 2023 Skills Sprint program. That program helped train over 20,000 people, more than 5,000 of whom were women working in tech. It led many participants to secure jobs, internships, or even launch their own businesses.
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Looking ahead, the fresh N3 billion pledge aims to boost AI skills and digital safety even further, with hopes of unlocking up to $15 billion in economic value from AI by 2030. This aligns well with the government’s goal to create around one million digital jobs over time.
Overall, these projects will explore how education, innovation, and security can work together to improve Nigeria’s digital landscape and get it ready for the AI-driven future that’s just around the corner.
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