Leverage AI for $1tr economy, minister advises

Minister of Communications, Innovations and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, has emphasised the importance of deploying artificial intelligence (AI) across all the sectors of the economy, saying it will facilitate Nigeria’s planned $1 trillion economy target by 2030.

Tijani said this, yesterday, in an interview on BBC World Newsday, ahead of the AI Action Summit in Paris, France.

According to him, AI offers the country a chance to raise productivity in several key sectors of the economy, including agriculture, education and healthcare, among others.

He noted that many while many developed countries were worried about job losses from automation, Nigeria’s young population, with an average age of 16.9 years, could create new job opportunities.

He posited that AI could lower the cost of healthcare and improve the quality of education while generating new tech-focused jobs.

While acknowledging that traditional roles might persist longer in Nigeria than in advanced economies, Tijani said: “The cost in terms of job loss is going to be extremely minimal. The traditional jobs won’t go away in our country anytime soon. But the opportunity that we have is that we can actually empower growth through the use of AI. Also, bear in mind that the future of the global workforce is actually in countries like Nigeria.

“Artificial Intelligence is a phenomenon that, certainly as leaders, we should pay strong attention to. For countries like ours, it’s a unique opportunity to truly raise the level of productivity across key sectors.”

He pointed out that Nigeria’s national AI Strategy was built with input from 100 experts from the Nigerian diaspora, who met in Abuja last year to shape the country’s approach to technology.