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The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has charged stakeholders in the digital sector to urgently leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), warning that Africa risks falling further behind if it fails to act.
By Chimezie Godfrey
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has charged stakeholders in the digital sector to urgently leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), warning that Africa risks falling further behind if it fails to act.
Tijani made the call in his welcome address at the 2025 Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX), which opened on Monday in Abuja. The four-day event has as its theme: “Building Continental Digital Foundations for Equitable AI Development.”
According to him, the adoption of AI presents both “challenges and opportunities” for Africa’s development.
“If we are not delivering, AI will widen the gap between nations around productivity. Countries that are already ahead will move even faster and those that are still catching up will find it even more difficult to catch up,” the minister said.
He stressed the need for massive investment in digital infrastructure, including connectivity, computing power, and clean energy, to support AI adoption across the continent.
“AI can disrupt jobs, but it will also create new ones. We must prepare our youth now with initiatives like Clean Energy for Talent, and similar projects across the continent. This is the only way we can build a workforce that is future-ready,” Tijani declared.
Citing practical use cases, the minister noted that in South Africa, farmers already deploy satellite imaging, drones and AI models to monitor crops in real time, boosting yields.
“Meanwhile, in a number of countries across our continent, many farmers still rely on guesswork and traditional practices because they lack access to these tools. The result, of course, is that farmers elsewhere are producing four to five times more food on the same land.
“If we cannot close this gap, Africa risks becoming a continent of consumers, importing food, importing services, and importing innovation instead of producers and leaders. And we know that is not the Africa that we want,” Tijani warned.
He also pointed to education, where AI-powered tutors are delivering personalised learning to millions of students at a fraction of the traditional cost.
“These innovations mean that while workers elsewhere are becoming productive with AI, some of our own economies risk losing competitiveness if we do not adopt the same tools. The central challenge, therefore, is while AI is becoming the engine for productivity, I’m waiting for our nation’s attempt to also adopt this technology,” he said.
Earlier, the Executive Vice President of Dubai Trade Centre, Trixie LohMirmand, described GITEX as more than an exhibition, calling it “a global digital ecosystem of diverse stakeholders that cuts across industries, geographical areas and continents.”
Explaining why Nigeria is hosting the event, LohMirmand said the country has the scale and potential to play a key role in the emerging digital economy.
“We want Nigeria not to be an outlier or on the fringe, we want Nigeria to be having a firm seat at that global table in the new digital AI economy.
“Nigeria is not defined by the headwinds or the challenges and the macro challenges that is out there. It is defined by the scale of opportunities of tomorrow,” she stated.
Delivering his welcome remark, the Director-General/CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, described AI as the engine of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, stressing that Africa cannot afford to miss out as it did in the past three revolutions.
He noted:“The first was built on steam and Africa only provided raw materials. The second was powered by steel and electricity, and we only provided minerals and markets. The third was built on computing and the internet, and though we provided talent, the design and build happened elsewhere. We cannot afford to lose out again in this Fourth Industrial Revolution driven by AI.”
According to him, AI promises exponential global economic growth, but only nations that build capacity in human capital, infrastructure, policy and computing power will benefit.
“We have the youngest population on Earth and a digitally native generation. With the right investments in talent development, digital infrastructure and cross-border collaboration, Africa can position itself not as a follower, but as a leader in this revolution,” Kashifu said.
Also speaking, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, stressed the need to create an enabling environment for innovators, saying young Nigerians have the creativity and resilience to drive the continent’s digital future.
“The future is not waiting for us, it is already here in the hands of our young people. They are coding apps, designing fintech solutions, building platforms — what they need is opportunity, access to capital, digital infrastructure and enabling laws. Innovation is as much Nigeria’s natural resource as oil and gas,” Sanwo-Olu declared.
He said Lagos State has embraced its duty as Nigeria’s digital hub by investing in fibre optic networks, digital literacy programmes, and tech innovation centres.
“If Lagos succeeds as Africa’s digital headquarters, then Nigeria succeeds, and Africa succeeds. Our ambition is to institutionalise innovation as a permanent pillar of development,” he added.
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