Technology stakeholders have warned that Nigeria’s increasing investment in artificial intelligence (AI), digital skills, and technology infrastructure will yield limited economic returns unless the country prioritises the creation of local technologies and jobs.
The warning came from policymakers and industry leaders during GITEX Nigeria 2026 in Lagos, where the focus turned to the gap between technology adoption and indigenous production. The experts argued that simply acquiring digital skills or importing AI tools is insufficient for sustainable economic growth.
According to the stakeholders, the current trajectory risks creating a dependency on foreign AI platforms, which would lead to capital flight and a failure to address local unemployment. They maintained that the only way to achieve a meaningful impact is by converting these investments into competitive businesses and exportable technological products.
Transitioning from consumption to production
The discourse at the event highlighted a recurring challenge in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem: the tendency to be a primary consumer of global technology rather than a producer. While the federal government and private sector have poured resources into digital literacy and infrastructure, these efforts have not yet translated into a robust pipeline of home-grown AI solutions that can compete globally.
Industry leaders noted that while AI has the potential to increase productivity across sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, and finance, it also poses a risk of job displacement if the workforce is only trained to use tools created elsewhere. To mitigate this, they called for a strategic shift toward developing local algorithms and software tailored to the specific needs of the Nigerian and African markets.
The stakeholders emphasised that the goal should be the creation of an AI-driven export economy. By building local technologies that solve regional problems, Nigeria can move from importing software licenses to exporting intellectual property, thereby strengthening the naira and creating high-value employment for its youth population.
This development follows a broader push by the government to integrate AI into the national economy through various digital transformation strategies. However, the consensus among experts in Lagos is that without a clear roadmap for commercialisation and local ownership, the investments will remain superficial.
The success of these initiatives now depends on whether policymakers can implement frameworks that incentivise local AI research and provide the venture capital necessary for Nigerian startups to scale their technologies into competitive businesses.
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