The Gates Foundation has urged Nigerian innovators to focus artificial intelligence on solving real-world problems, saying its true value lies in improving lives rather than technological sophistication.
The call was made at the launch of the Scaling AI for Development (SAID) Challenge under the Nigeria AI Scaling Hub, a joint initiative of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, the Gates Foundation, and Lagos Business School.
The programme is designed to move Nigeria’s AI ecosystem from isolated innovation to large-scale deployment by connecting tested solutions with government institutions for real-world application.
The SAID Challenge focuses on scaling proven AI solutions across priority sectors such as health, agriculture, education, public services, and financial services. It creates a structured bridge between innovators and Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), ensuring that technologies already validated through pilots are deployed where they can deliver measurable impact in service delivery and development outcomes.
The Country Director of the Gates Foundation, Uche Amaonwu, said AI must be judged by its impact on human lives rather than its sophistication.
He explained that in many development contexts, technology often exists without meaningful adoption or measurable outcomes.
This is why the Foundation emphasizes practical deployment over experimental innovation, especially in underserved communities.
“AI is not about the glamour of the technology. It’s simply whether it can help us improve outcomes for people where the need is greatest, especially in places where health systems are under pressure, education gaps are wide, and people are trying to do a lot with very little resources. For us, it is about saving lives and improving livelihoods in the most practical and measurable way possible. These outcomes, not technical complexity, are what determine whether AI truly matters in development contexts.”
He stressed that AI must work in local realities such as low-resource environments and local languages to be effective , explaining that many advanced systems fail because they are not designed for the realities of frontline users without adaptation to context, even powerful technologies struggle to create meaningful impact.
“AI will not create impact in Nigeria if it does not work in local languages or in low-resource settings, or if frontline workers cannot understand it, trust it, and use it in their daily work to solve real problems they face every day. If it cannot function in these realities, then it simply will not deliver meaningful impact. Without this adaptation, even the most advanced systems will remain irrelevant to the people who need them most.”
He added that collaboration across government, private sector, academia, and development partners is essential emphasizing that shared responsibility is necessary to build systems that can scale sustainably across sectors.
No single institution can achieve nationwide transformation without coordinated effort.
“No single actor can seal the promise of AI alone. We need strong partnerships across the ecosystem to deliver secure, unbiased, and impactful AI at scale, because this is not something any one institution, government, or company can achieve in isolation. It requires collective effort and shared responsibility to make it work. Only through coordinated action can we ensure AI systems are both scalable and sustainable.”
He also urged Nigerian innovators to build solutions rooted in local realities.
He stressed that locally relevant innovation is key to addressing Africa’s unique and urgent development challenges.
Solutions must be designed with end users in mind to ensure real adoption and trust.
“Don’t be passive adopters of technology developed elsewhere. We need builders of solutions that reflect local realities and can shape how responsible AI should work in contexts like Nigeria and across the Global South, where the challenges are very different and where the needs are urgent, real, and deeply human in nature. This is how we ensure innovation becomes truly transformative.”
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, said AI is central to Nigeria’s competitiveness and development, and must deliver real value in people’s lives.
He explained that Nigeria’s future growth depends on how effectively AI improves productivity and public services.
He added that innovation must translate into tangible outcomes for citizens, not remain at the level of strategy or policy.
“From the beginning, we understood that artificial intelligence will shape the future of competitiveness of nations. The real measure of success will not be in how many strategies we write or partnerships we announce, but whether AI helps a farmer increase productivity, whether it helps a teacher reach more learners, or whether it supports better healthcare, stronger businesses, and greater opportunities for people. That is why the Nigeria AI Scaling Hub is important—to move innovation into everyday use so it creates real value for Nigeria. These applications must translate directly into improved livelihoods and stronger institutions.”
He warned that many Nigerian innovations fail to scale due to lack of infrastructure and access.
He noted that promising ideas often stall because of financial and technical barriers to growth.
Without proper support systems, local innovations struggle to reach national adoption.
“We were using it for free, but the moment we got to a certain stage, the amount we were being asked to pay was impossible, even if members contributed. That was the beginning of the end of that application. And it’s the same thing we see with young people building AI solutions today—they have smart ideas, but their growth is capped by access to content, infrastructure, and scale. And that is what we must ensure we do not do with AI. Without addressing this, promising innovations will continue to die before reaching national impact.”
He emphasized collaboration across all sectors highlighting that inclusive partnerships are essential for building a sustainable innovation ecosystem.
Working in silos, he said, undermines national progress and slows down impact.
“I want to say a big thank you to government, academia, industry, civil society, and the entire innovation ecosystem, we have done on AI is done by government alone. We brought together researchers, innovators, policymakers, and partners because no one actor can do this alone If we continue to work in isolation, we will not scale, but when we work together with clarity and consistency, we move the country forward this alignment is what turns vision into national progress.”
He added that AI must address inequality and real human challenges.
He explained that technology must respond to everyday struggles faced by vulnerable populations.
AI, he noted, becomes meaningful only when it improves lived experiences across society.
“There are many Nigerians who cannot read or write, and imagine them at a police station trying to give a report—they are the ones who experience the system most.These are the people on the streets when farmers lose markets to Brazil and Argentina, that is what poverty looks like in reality. So when people say AI is not about poverty, let them understand that without these tools, we cannot solve poverty or inequality. AI must directly confront these lived realities to be meaningful.”
He concluded that Nigeria must remain consistent and united to lead in AI globally.
He stressed that long-term success depends on discipline, clarity, and collective effort.
Sustained collaboration, he said, is what will position Nigeria as a global leader in AI.
“When a country lives with clarity, consistency, and commitment, a lot more people want to be part of that journey. But recognition is not what drives us—it is impact. We must continue to work together because without collaboration, we cannot solve problems at scale. If we stay united, Nigeria will not just participate in AI—we will lead it. Sustained alignment is what secures long-term leadership.”
The Use Case Acceleration Lead at NAISH, Lagos Business School, Oreoluwa Olaitan, said Nigeria’s key challenge is not lack of AI talent, but the absence of a bridge between innovation and real-world application.
He explained that many strong solutions already exist but fail because they are not connected to institutions and end users.
He added that the SAID Challenge is designed specifically to close this gap and enable deployment at scale.
“Nigeria does not have a shortage of AI solutions. We do not have a shortage of AI talent. What we’re short of is the bridge that connects the solutions to the people that need them. This is why we’re launching the SAID Challenge. It is a bridge to connect innovation to problems, to connect talent to the problems that need them. Without this bridge, even strong innovations remain disconnected from impact.”
He explained that the SAID Challenge operationalizes the National AI Strategy by focusing on key sectors such as health, agriculture, education, finance, and public services.
He noted that it ensures policy is translated into real implementation across priority areas.
The goal, he said, is to make AI adoption structured, measurable, and nationally impactful.
“Under the visionary leadership of our Honorable Minister, we have established a National AI Strategy which speaks to priority areas in agriculture, healthcare, education, financial services and government services. So the SAID Challenge is about connecting validated problems in these sectors to solutions that have used proper AI solutions to address the problem, and it becomes another vehicle for the implementation of the National AI Strategy. This ensures policy translates into measurable national outcomes.”
He added that the initiative ensures structured collaboration with MDAs to refine problems, match solutions, and drive deployment at scale.
He emphasized that the process is designed to improve adoption, accountability, and real-world impact.
By linking problem definition directly to solution deployment, he said, the system reduces fragmentation and increases effectiveness.
“We do this in two main ways: collaborating with MDAs to understand and refine their problems, and then matching these validated problems to innovative solutions that have been used in recent years. From naming the problems, to refining them, and then matching them to ensure deployment of solutions to address specific problems, increasing the absorption capabilities of the MDAs. This structured process ensures adoption is systematic, scalable, and impact-driven.”