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Nigeria to Lead Africa in AI, Blockchain Technology – NITDA DG
Mr. Kashifu Inuwa, director general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA ), said Nigeria will lead other African countries in artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology.
He said this will lead to the economic diversification of the continent.
Inuwa made this claim on Wednesday at the Digital Africa 2021 virtual conference and exhibition where he spoke about “Building a New Africa with AI and Blockchain”.
He said that with the continent’s population growth and declining oil revenues, especially in Nigeria , there was a need to tap into other areas to diversify the economy.
Emerging technology is one such area, he said, and will play an important role in economic diversification.
“Digital technologies are changing the world at a faster rate than the waves of technological innovation seen before.
“Nigeria needs to accelerate its growth and modernize its economy through the development of a digitally driven growth strategy for the Nigerian economy.
“It is relevant to note that despite the economic shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the growth seen in economies has come from viable digital economies.
“The digital economy has been identified as an engine of growth, so Nigeria can harness it as an engine of growth and innovation,” he said.
The head of NITDA affirmed that the World Bank Group’s initiative on the digital economy for Africa (DE4A) supports the digital transformation strategy for Africa, prepared by the African Union (AU).
He also stressed that the DE4A initiative recognizes that the digital economy can help accelerate the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He said that recently there was a call to action with the unveiling of the “Economic Sustainability Plan 2020”, which aimed to put technology at the forefront of development in Nigeria.
Inuwa said the conference was a meeting point for professionals, practitioners and policy makers to reflect on how best to harness these technologies for the benefit of citizens.
“For Nigeria, a country in desperate need of diversifying its economy, digital economic activities are essential for diversification as they transcend all aspects of human endeavor and the economic sector,” he said.
He pointed out that at NITDA, the development and use of emerging technologies was one of the strategic pillars of the agency’s 2021-2024 roadmap and action plan.
To drive this pillar, he said the agency is working with relevant stakeholders and researchers to secure AI, blockchain and other emerging technologies to support the country’s economic diversification and sustainability plan.
He reiterated that the focus on economic progress in sub-Saharan Africa, taking advantage of emerging technologies, especially AI, blockchain, Internet of Things and 5G, was highly commendable and appropriate.
He urged stakeholders present at the event to build the partnerships and collaborations necessary to make Nigeria a leading digital and knowledge economy by 2030.
Keynote speaker for the event, Professor Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice President of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), urged Africa to take advantage of the unprecedented volume of data being generated on sentiment, behavior, human health, commerce, communications, migration and more.
“The adoption of AI solutions is expected to increase dramatically over the next few years and competition among large AI companies is expected to be intense.
“In a recent report released by Markets and Markets (M&M), the size of the global AI market is expected to grow from $ 58.3 billion in 2021 to $ 309.6 billion by 2026.
“It’s a compound of a whopping 39.7% growth rate over the forecast period,” Danbatta said.
He explained that BlockChain was the basis of cryptocurrency such as bitcoin; one of the newest technologies that has received considerable global attention in recent times.
According to him, BlockChain served as the immutable metric that allowed transactions to take place and its applications are emerging, spanning many areas including financial services, rebuttal systems, the Internet of Things (IoT), health, among others.
Danbatta also said that robust and reliable broadband infrastructure and cutting-edge technology, such as the 5th generation (5G) network, are needed to unlock the enormous economic potential of AI and BlockChain in every. country.
He reiterated that African countries including Nigeria must be positioned to take advantage of the huge revenues from AI technologies, BlockChain in particular, over the next five years to make way for a digital economy.
AI refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions, while Blockchain technology is a structure that stores transactional records, also known as block, of the public in multiple databases. of data, called a string.
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that Nigeria’s internet usage reached a record 1.24 million terabytes in November 2025.
According to the latest data from the NCC, the figure rose modestly from 1.235 million terabytes in October, reflecting steady growth in digital activity across the country.
Broadband penetration in Nigeria crossed the halfway mark in November 2025, reaching 50.58 per cent, up from 45.61 per cent in January, the telecoms regulator reported.
The figure, however, falls short of the 70 per cent coverage target outlined in the National Broadband Plan 2020–2025, which expires this month.
The country had roughly 109 million broadband subscriptions by November. Growth has been uneven, hindered by infrastructure and regulatory constraints, including frequent fibre-optic vandalism that triggers 30 to 43 network cuts daily, high right-of-way fees, and declining subscriber numbers earlier in the year.
Expansion of mobile networks, particularly 3G and 4G services, alongside limited 5G rollouts in urban centres, affordable smartphones, and competitive data plans, has driven uptake.
Investments in the National Communications Backbone and private-sector initiatives have also improved access, especially in underserved areas.
While Nigeria is gradually improving digital inclusion, achieving the original broadband plan remains challenging due to high infrastructure costs, coverage limitations, and deployment hurdles.
The NCC maintains that continued investment in mobile networks and broadband infrastructure will sustain gradual growth in the sector.
Commenting on the development, some Nigerian analysts attributed the surge to the broader mobile and broadband adoption and the growing appetite for streaming, online learning and other digital services.
According to the analysts, the figures suggest that internet connectivity is no longer a luxury but a necessity for both business and leisure, underscoring the slow but steady expansion of Nigeria’s digital economy.
Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has named the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) among the top three Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government with the Best Ranking in Website Performance for 2025.
L-R: Head Special Projects, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Salamatu Andu; Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Engr. Abaraham Oshadame; Director General Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Head Customer Support Service, Galaxy Backbone, Rosemary Ehize; Secretary to the ES. Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Tahir Aminu at the BPSR award ceremony for top four MDAs in BPSR Website Performance and Ranking 2025 at the BPSR office on Tuesday, 23rd December, 2025.
This is coming barely three weeks after the telecom regulator was recognized as one of the top five best-performing Federal Government agencies for 2025 by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) – a testament to the Commission’s consistency in investment in technology for ensuring efficient service delivery.
In the BPSR 2024/2025 scorecard ranking of agencies’ websites, the NCC came second in the ranking, trailing behind Galaxy Backbone Limited, which came first while the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) clinched the third position, from a pool of 235 MDAs, whose website were evaluated.
BPSR deployed 14 evaluation criteria in include MDA’s website compliance with .gov.ng domain name, appearance and aesthetics (look and feel) of the website, content, relevance to MDAs mandate/government policy and the website’ structure.
Others include website’s responsiveness (device compatibility), security, load time, usability/ease of navigation, availability/uptime, functionality, interactivity, accessibility and capacity building.
The recognition was announced at the official release of Federal Government 2024/2025 Scorecard Ranking for MDAs’ Website held at the Federal Ministry of Finance Auditorium in Abuja on Monday (December 22, 2025) while the award presentation took place at BPSR’s Office on Tuesday (December 23, 2025).
The award, which is an important index metric of the National e-Government Masterplan for determining the Nigeria e-Government Status, was received by the Commission in recognition of its commitment to maintaining a world-class website that enhances service delivery to the citizens.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Abraham Oshadami, appreciated the BPSR for the recognition, describing the award as “another encouragement for the Commission to be a better public service institution leveraging digital platforms such as our web presence to enhance public service delivery to our various stakeholders, thereby implementing the Federal Government’s Ease of Doing Business policy direction.”
While presenting the award to the NCC, alongside other two agencies, BPSR’s Director-General, Mr. Dasuki Arabi, commended the top three for their proactive decisions in maintaining world-class websites, which are compliant with the Federal Government’s policy direction in effective and efficient service delivery to the citizens.
According to the DG, the 2024/2025 MDA’s websites’ ranking represents a collective effort of federal public institutions in Nigeria to be transparent, accountable and open in governance, as well as a confirmation to align with global best practices in service delivery to the citizens.
Developed about six years ago, Arabi said as a result of the annual ranking, more public institutions have indicated readiness to embrace reforms, and align with the policy direction of the current administration’s Renewed Hope agenda on improve governance for effective service delivery, as introduced by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The ideals of harnessing and deploying technological tools for service delivery has become imperative following the COVID pandemic, and distortions of socio-economic system of nations, culminating in the evolution of competitiveness, cost effectiveness, and agile governance.
“As engine room of governance, it behoves on us in the public service to perform our statutory duties and we must put in place technological innovations and standardized websites to operate services as well as deliver service needs to citizens,” he said.
The Scorecard exercise, he said, is part of the BPSR reform broader function of conducting research on reform implementation efforts and presenting ‘best practice’ models to the entire Public Service, and to among others, improve access to government information, facilitate seamless financial transaction, eliminate corruption and cyber theft, as well as facilitate access to government services.
Speaking on the rigorous nature of the exercise that produced the top three winners, the DG said “in the past few weeks members of the Scorecard Jury drawn from inter-Ministerial Agencies, had worked tirelessly to mill websites of selected MDAs through a rigorous process of enduring criteria for the ranking and the outcome had also passed through a quality assurance mechanism to validate the outcome.”
Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, has dismissed reports that bank accounts not linked to a Tax Identification Number (TIN) will be frozen or automatically debited from January 1, 2026.
Taiwo Oyedele
Oyedele described the claims as false and misleading, warning Nigerians against panic over misinformation surrounding recent tax and financial reforms.
In a post on his X handle Tuesday morning, he wrote: “Don’t let anyone manipulate you. Your bank account is safe. Misinformation makes you panic and fear a reform that is designed to help you.
“When they tell you that your account will be frozen or automatically debited from January 2026, ask them for the evidence in the new law. Be wise.”
He stressed that no provision in the new tax laws authorises the freezing of bank accounts, adding that the rumours are part of widespread misrepresentation of the reforms.
The committee chairman reiterated that the reforms are intended to simplify Nigeria’s tax system and ease the burden on ordinary citizens, not to impose punitive measures on bank customers.
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