UNGA 81: NITDA DG Urges Global Tech Firms to ‘Build With Africa’
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UNGA 81: NITDA DG Urges Global Tech Firms to ‘Build With Africa’
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman
The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has called for an inclusive Artificial Intelligence ecosystem that gives Nigerians the ability to shape and benefit from the technology, rather than merely access it.
Abdullahi made the call at a high-level dialogue on technology, innovation and social business on the sidelines of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA in New York, where global leaders and development champions gathered to discuss technology-driven solutions to sustainable and inclusive development.
The NITDA boss, who joined the global leaders at the session, said the international conversation around AI must move beyond expanding access to technology and focus on ensuring representation, access and agency.
“Inclusive AI requires representation and access—and access must mean agency, not just consumption,” Abdullahi said.
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The session featured the President of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly, Dr Khalilur Rahman; President of Timor-Leste and 1996 Nobel Peace Laureate, José Ramos-Horta; Prime Minister of Bhutan, Dasho Tshering Tobgay; Brazil’s State Minister of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger, Wellington Dias; and Pakistan’s Minister of State and Chairman of the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, Bilal Bin Saqib.
Also featured was 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate and founder of Grameen Bank, Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Abdullahi said truly inclusive AI must reflect the data, languages, cultures, contexts and values of the people it is designed to serve, while giving citizens the capacity to understand, build with and shape the technology.
Using agriculture as an example, he said AI could enable a Nigerian farmer with limited access to agricultural experts to obtain advice on weather conditions, soil quality and crop challenges, as well as connect to markets.
He said the value of AI should ultimately be measured by its impact on people’s lives through better decisions, increased productivity, higher incomes and stronger families and communities.
“The promise of AI is not that every Nigerian becomes an AI expert. It is that AI can put expertise within the reach of every Nigerian,” he said.
The NITDA DG identified four pillars underpinning Nigeria’s approach to inclusive AI as CONNECT, SKILL, COMPUTE and CREATE.
He cited Project BRIDGE as part of efforts to expand connectivity, while pointing to DL4ALL, the 3 Million Technical Talent programme and Technical and Vocational Education and Training as initiatives aimed at building digital and technical capabilities.
He also outlined efforts to strengthen sovereign cloud and AI capabilities and create an enabling environment for entrepreneurs to develop technology solutions to local challenges.
On digital sovereignty, Abdullahi said Nigeria’s objective was not technological isolation but the ability to ensure that AI systems understand Nigerian data, contexts and nuances, operate within Nigerian law and reflect national culture and values.
He called on global technology companies to move beyond selling technology to Africa and instead “build with Africa” through investments in computing infrastructure, knowledge transfer, talent development, African datasets and languages, and partnerships with African innovators and researchers.
Abdullahi also stressed the need for governments, businesses and citizens to share responsibility for the development and deployment of AI.
He said governments must provide infrastructure, policy clarity and regulatory certainty while protecting citizens, while young people should see AI as a tool for augmenting their capabilities and productivity.
The NITDA boss, however, warned that human accountability must remain central as AI becomes increasingly integrated into decisions affecting health, livelihoods, rights and public services.
“We can delegate tasks to machines. We cannot delegate accountability,” he said.
He challenged policymakers, technology companies and innovators to consider two questions whenever they develop an AI system: who is represented in the intelligence being created, and who has the agency to shape and create value from it.
Abdullahi said the defining achievement of the AI age should ultimately be measured by its contribution to human progress.
“The defining achievement of the AI age should not be that we created machines capable of extraordinary intelligence. It should be that we used that intelligence to unlock extraordinary human possibility; for everyone,” he said.
