Nigeria has achieved a footprint in artificial intelligence research, moving from zero peer-reviewed AI compute papers to 20 in 18 months. It reports a good news story as it evidences the influence of the Nigeria Artificial Intelligence Research Scheme (NAIRS). NAIRS is a federally funded program with the objectives of enabling Nigeria to be positioned as a contributor to the global AI research community (rather than simply the exporter of talent).
NAIRS, funded by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), was officially launched in early 2024 as a structured mechanism for Nigerian researchers, inside and outside the country, to publish with the backing of local institutions. Olubunmi Ajala, National Director of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), said that we launched the program to close the structural gap that had seen Nigerians writing thousands of AI papers overseas without any attribution to Nigerian universities or labs.
The first call for applications saw over 4,000 researchers respond, from which 45 consortia of researchers and start-ups were selected. Each group received grants up to ₦5 million and a one-year goal to publish in the thematic areas of agriculture, health-care, education, sustainability, and utilities.
The initiative has thus far documented two years of recording time as a series of short-term, longer-term projects and research outputs produced through the program, with 20 peer-reviewed publications (including two from Springer journals), already pilot projects in this research space. Highlights in the research have included a computer vision model identifying “tomato Ebola”, a virulent crop disease rapidly wiping out harvests, and smart traffic management, with dedicated signal time for alleviating congestion of Nigeria’s cities.
NAIRS is building a long-term infrastructure for the AI ecosystem in Nigeria, although facilitating opportunity – beyond publishing. As a faction of the AI Collective, a global gathering of over 2,000 practitioners, Nigerian AI researchers can collaborate, share data, lessen and supervise students, syndicate methods to commercialize funded research, etc. The most significant challenge exists in the government’s focus to build Nigerian AI, and it is in computing infrastructure, and creating more access to high-performance GPU (graphic processing units) computing through NCAIR and Galaxy Backbone, to facilitate lowering entry barriers for researchers and startups creating modern AI models.
These accomplishments are part of a larger movement and the national agenda. In 2024, Nigeria has launched its first National AI strategy, with a focus on ethical applications, inclusive innovation, and aligning the national infrastructure with development priorities. The other complementary programmes, such as the 3 Million Technical Talent initiative, etc, are generating a pipeline skills base, while international partnerships and collaborations, e.g. Llama Impact Accelerator and Meta collaborations, are indicating the strong signal of international interest in Nigeria’s AI ecosystem.
Ajala stated that the next iteration of NAIRS is focussing their efforts on patents, biotech applications, and piloting the incubation of investable scalable startups, supporting business solutions to common local challenges such as food security, healthcare, and urban planning, which in turn will attract more international investors. He further continued to indicate that solid research outcomes continued to be produced, and international partners continue to express interest to see how AI can be realised and applied to Africa, and Nigeria is starting to provide reliable responses.
The step from zero to 20 AI research papers in less than 2 years indicates a tipping point. AI researchers in Nigeria are embedding their research in their own institutions, providing the pathways to advance viability in commercialisation, and establishing Nigeria as an emerging market and space in the global AI ecosystem.