Nigeria’s AI development imperatives

Guest Columnist By Abba Y Abdullah

Early June 2025, I attended the Silicon Valley Summit in Sunnyvale, California, US. The three-day summit provided the opportunity for exploring cutting-edge ideas and collaborative networking. Over 300 startups across 20+verticals, including 50- AI startups featured in the summit with 4,300 participants attending from all over the world. Participants included corporate partners, venture capitalists, batch and portfolio startups and my humble self who was there to explore AI ecosystem trends and opportunities. Topics discussed centered around innovations and new ideas in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Quantum Computers (QC), semiconductors (materials with electrical conductivity between conductors and insulators e.g. transistors and integrated circuits) and other areas like nanotechnology application of materials and devices on a nanoscale: 1-100 billionths of a meter where materials exhibit unique properties that differ from their bulk counterparts), and robotics.

Human development started with the discovery of fire, then to steam engine, to electricity, to internet and now AI. AI, the main agenda, is creeping into every aspect of life, health, agriculture, education, fashion, entertainment, governance, financial, transport, energy, etc., providing borderless power, AI is turning out to be an essential infrastructure of tomorrow. The power of AI provides time and money savings, and precision in analysis of big data, which is the backbone of its operations. Complex operations which hitherto are almost humanly impossible under the present circumstances are becoming easier with the power of AI. For example, robots using AI can do all what is humanly impossible in terms of dangers, strength, speed, analytics and decision making in complex and most challenging situations. It is a common belief that the most powerful people on earth are not politicians, but AI company owners. A good example is that of Elon Musk through his companies: SpaceX, Starlink and Tesla, is taking the center stage on who and what happens in the US and probably World politics. Through his tech companies, Musk is taking control of space, defense and green transport technologies. Others like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc. are taking the lead in human development and control enhanced by AI technology.

It is also predicted that not only governments will be affected by AI, but social media which has creeped up into the bedrooms of individuals even in African villages is affected. It has been predicted that by 2026, 90% of all media contents will be AI generated thus social media will no longer be social, but AI media. Additionally, the development in medicine which started with discovery of vaccines to antibiotics and since then, progress in the sector has only been incremental, until advances in AI which provides the next phase that will direct it to a different trajectory. Nearly all editions of Economics Magazine since 2023, contain leading articles on AI. Entertainment is not left behind, more that 50% of movies stream by Netflix are AI themed raging from cyber-relationships to cyber-wars. Currently, there is an ongoing cybernomics war between US and China (has around 50% of world AI expertise), through their proxies Nvidia and Huawei respectively, on who controls semiconductors production for AI. Whoever wins this war will control the world development! Perhaps, it is with this realization that AI is on the global agenda of many countries including Nigeria where it is extensively being discussed and opportunities explored in the AI space. The recently concluded BRICS meeting in Brazil had AI on top of its agenda.

Therefore, what is this AI? It is the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. It uses humanlike intelligence, such as learning, analysing complex problems, providing solutions, drawing logical conclusions and making decisions based on data. It can also interpret and understand data from sensors, images, and other sources. In other words, AI is a machine that simulate human intelligence and some extent, consciousness but at a faster and more precise results, given the available and size of data given to it.

There are various types of AI, each possessing different capabilities. These range from Narrow or Weak AI, which is designed for specific tasks, such as image recognition, language translation, or playing games on consoles and mobile phones, to general or Strong AI, which is a theoretical system that mimics human-like intelligence and can perform any intellectual tasks using powerful computers. Currently, applications of AI are often taken for granted due to their widespread use. Applications in this regard include Virtual Assistants: Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant, which can recognise voice commands and perform tasks. Additionally, image recognition technologies are becoming increasingly prevalent. There is also the Natural Language Processing which interprets and generates human language is also advancing rapidly, alongside Predictive Analytics that analyzes data and make predictions about future outcomes like the ones used in weather predictions, stocks markets and most recently, predicting health issues before they occur based on patient genetic data available to the system. These technologies address critical issues before they arise by making data accessible for proactive management. The integration of these capabilities enhances decision making and transforms user experiences across various platforms, through automation which helps in freeing up human time in repetitive and mundane tasks for a more creative and strategic work. AI also enhances customer experience by providing personalized recommendations and support often experience in online sales and adverts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.

AI applications are increasingly creeping into our daily lives at a faster rate than realized by many. In healthcare, AI-powered telemedicine platforms are bridging the gap between rural and urban healthcare services, enabling remote consultations, operation and diagnosis, and this is improving access to medical care. Food security and agricultural productivity are being enhanced through precision farming, predicting crop yields, and detecting diseases, livestock and fish feeds formulation for a desired outcome, leading to better financial planning and reduced food insecurity. AI is also democratizing learning by providing personalized learning experiences, online tutoring, and intelligent content delivery, making quality education more accessible to the people and of recent, people living in remote areas by accessing the internet through Starlink. Governance is also not left behind as AI is improving data-driven decision-making, increasing transparency, and optimising resource allocation, leading to a more efficient and responsive governance and Decision Intelligence (use of data to guide governance decision rather that politics or emotions). Emotion based decision is the bane of underdevelopment in many nations often leading to wars. However, the big challenge in the deployment of AI is the need for high computing power, and this is being solved through Quantum Computing.

Due to the growing influence of AI in computing, there will always be a need for more computing power to enhance its capabilities to meet up with the power needs of AI algorithm. Quantum Computing is a revolutionary technology that utilizes the principles of quantum mechanics (physics that studies the behaviour of matter and energy at an atomic and subatomic levels where classical laws of physics don’t apply), to perform calculations and operations on data. It has the potential to solve complex problems that are currently unsolvable or require an unfeasible amount of time to solve with existing computers. Quantum computers can accelerate certain machine learning algorithms, leading to new insights and discoveries, thus, opening a new realm of possibilities rapidly evolving into a field that promises to transform the way we approach complex problems. This technology is already making advancement in areas of research and is actively evolving within various organizations and companies investing in its development and some are already exploring the use of quantum computing for specific applications. Organisations are doing this due to the realisation that QC has the potential to revolutionise many fields and industries. QC can solve certain problems 100 million times faster than classical computers, for example, Google’s quantum computer, Sycamore, solved a complex problem in 200 seconds that would take the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years.

Abba Y Abdullah is a Public Affairs Analyst.