Nigeria's economy could see a transformative boost from artificial intelligence (AI) over the next decade, with the potential to add $2.9 trillion to Africa's GDP by 2030, according to a new report by the GSMA. As one of Africa's tech leaders, Nigeria stands to benefit immensely from AI-driven solutions, particularly in agriculture, energy, and climate action. However, significant challenges remain, threatening to stall the widespread adoption and impact of AI in the country.
Agriculture, which employs nearly 40% of Nigeria's population and contributes a quarter of the GDP, is ripe for AI-driven transformation. The GSMA report highlights that AI could enhance resource efficiency, increase productivity, and improve market access for farmers. Companies like Crop2Cash (with FarmAdvice) and ThriveAgric are already pioneering AI-powered platforms that provide tailored advice and financial services to smallholder farmers.
However, the report also points to significant barriers. Limited data availability, high costs, and a substantial digital skills gap among smallholder farmers are slowing the pace of AI adoption.
Nigeria's energy sector is another area where AI could make a significant impact. Innovations like Beacon Power Services’ AI-enabled grid management platform and Husk Power Systems’ AI-driven mini-grids offer promising solutions to optimize energy distribution and extend access to underserved rural areas.
Yet, the deployment of AI technologies in Nigeria's energy sector remains in its infancy. The report suggests that with the right investments, AI could play a crucial role in enhancing efficiency and sustainability in both on-grid and off-grid systems.
Despite Nigeria’s relatively low greenhouse gas emissions, the country is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Existing AI-driven solutions, such as Google’s flood forecasting tool and Chemotronix’s carbon credit platform, demonstrate the potential for AI to support climate action.
However, the report identifies a significant opportunity for further leveraging AI capabilities in this area, particularly around natural resource management and biodiversity mapping.
To fully harness AI's potential, the GSMA report outlines several critical areas that need to be addressed, including data availability, AI infrastructure and compute capabilities, skills development, and policy and ecosystem support.
The GSMA report concludes with targeted recommendations to support AI deployment in Nigeria including strengthening the AI ecosystem through public-private partnerships and increased funding for R&D, investment in local data collection and infrastructure to support AI scalability, and fostering AI skills development through enhanced education and training programs.
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