Nigeria must leverage Artificial Intelligence and trusted digital infrastructure to move beyond traditional outsourcing and establish itself as a competitive global destination for high-value digital services, the Director-General/CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, has said.
Abdullahi made the assertion during the “Hire from Nigeria” session organised by the Nigeria Economic and Trade Advancement Programme (NATEP) on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA81).
The NITDA DG joined the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, and the Minister of Education, Dr. Moruf Alausa, at the session, which focused on impact sourcing, global trade, digital skills and inclusive job creation.
Abdullahi said Nigeria’s competitive advantage should no longer be limited to supplying labour for conventional outsourcing, stressing that the rapid advancement of AI presents an opportunity for the country to build a distinctive niche in AI-augmented and IT-enabled services.
He said Nigerians must be equipped not only to use emerging technologies but also to understand, develop and create economic value from them.
The NITDA chief also highlighted Nigeria’s evolving frameworks for data protection, digital identity, cybersecurity, digital infrastructure assurance, data classification, sovereign cloud and software quality assurance, describing trust, security and regulatory certainty as critical to attracting global businesses.
According to him, these measures will help strengthen Nigeria’s position as a dependable destination for technology-enabled services while creating an environment capable of supporting increased international investment.
He referenced Project BRIDGE, which targets the deployment of 90,000 kilometres of fibre infrastructure, alongside the Cloud First Policy and other initiatives aimed at attracting private-sector investment in computing infrastructure and AI factories.
Abdullahi also stressed the need for greater representation in the emerging AI economy, noting that communities and economies absent from datasets used to develop intelligent systems risk being underrepresented in technologies that will shape the future.
He cited the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) and the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy as key components of Nigeria’s efforts to develop indigenous AI capabilities and connect its talent and innovation ecosystem to global opportunities.
The NITDA DG said Nigeria’s opportunity is therefore not simply to supply talent to the world, but to equip Nigerian talent with AI capabilities, trusted digital infrastructure and globally competitive skills to deliver higher-value services to the global economy.
