Nigeria has teamed up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in order to launch a $7.5-million artificial intelligence hub aimed at scaling local AI solutions in healthcare, agriculture, education, and other areas.
The AI Scaling Hub announced Tuesday in Abuja will support Nigerian startups and researchers to develop and deploy AI tools that have real-world impact. The three-year project is part of Nigeria’s larger push to position itself at the forefront of AI-driven development in Africa.
Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, said that this collaboration would strengthen Nigeria’s national capacity to develop responsible, scalable AI which solves real-world problems.
In collaboration with Lagos Business School, the Hub will provide selected innovators with technical assistance, mentoring, and funding. It is expected to be a key player in Nigeria’s National AI Strategy which aims to promote digital inclusion and guide ethical AI adoption.
Africa’s digital economy is rapidly growing, but AI integration is uneven due to infrastructure gaps. The Gates Foundation claims that the new hub will help close this gap. Uche Amaonwu is the Nigeria Country Director for the Gates Foundation. She said that AI was transforming the landscape of development. This investment will ensure that local innovators have a leading role in shaping this transformation.
It is expected that the hub will become operational by Q3 2025 and that its first cohort AI-driven projects will launch before the end of the calendar year.
This announcement highlights the growing interest in leveraging new technologies to address systemic issues in Africa, from agricultural productivity and disease monitoring to education access and efficiency in the public sector.
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