The federal government has hinted on its move to develop a national strategy; as a tool to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is estimated to contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, made this disclosure in a document titled: ‘Co-creating a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy for Nigeria’, published on his twitter handle.
It stated that with a fast growing technology start-up ecosystem and proactive leadership, Nigeria is well positioned to leverage Al for economic diversification and inclusive growth.
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a multipurpose technology transforming production and service delivery, with the potential to significantly impact economic growth and social progress.
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“Recent research shows that Al could contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, with $3 trillion from increased productivity and $9.1 trillion from new products and services (PwC, 2018).
“As an innovation leader on the African continent, Nigeria needs to develop a national strategy to harness the power of Al for sustainable development,” it stated.
It however noted that along with the opportunities, Al governance also poses some complex socio technical challenges. As algorithms are deployed in high-stake domains like healthcare, finance, and security, concerns are emerging around ethics, bias, transparency, job automation and privacy.
It explained that both policy makers and researchers are of a consensus that a human centered approach is essential to ensure AI systems are fair and accountable to all, across gender, ethnic and socioeconomic groups.
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“A National Al Strategy for Nigeria to responsibly steer the Al revolution towards achieving national goals around job creation, social inclusion, and sustainable development becomes imperative. With collaborative leadership, Nigeria seeks to pioneer ethical and inclusive AI innovation that improves welfare and expands opportunities for all its citizens.
“The International Finance Corporation projects that the strategic adoption of Al could add up $234 billion to Africa’s GDP by 2030. Nigeria in this loop is considered to have a fast growing technology start-up ecosystem (having attracted 25% of the $1.3 billion funding to African tech startups in 2021) and with proactive leadership, is well positioned to leverage Al for economic diversification and inclusive growth,” it stated.
