Nigeria Launches AI Hub with $7.5M Fund for Innovation

The Nigerian Federal Government inaugurated the Nigeria Artificial Intelligence Scaling Hub (NAISH) on Friday in Abuja, unveiling a $7.5 million fund aimed at fostering public sector innovation. Dr. Bosun Tijani, who announced the initiative, described it as a significant step towards building a globally competitive AI ecosystem capable of addressing Nigeria's development challenges.

The partnership with the Gates Foundation will provide technical assistance, computing infrastructure, and policy support over three years, moving AI innovation beyond pilot stages to nationwide implementation. The initiative is designed to bridge the gap between government institutions and Nigerian AI innovators, facilitating large-scale deployment of proven AI solutions tailored to Nigeria's unique challenges in healthcare, education, and agriculture.

Selected innovators will undergo a competitive process to deploy their solutions. The hub will also provide access to local AI computing infrastructure, reducing reliance on foreign cloud services and costs associated with training AI models.