Nigeria’s technology regulator is pressing the country’s digital services sector to shift from conventional business-process outsourcing toward higher-value, artificial intelligence-enabled work, as officials seek to attract global investment and expand technology employment.
The National Information Technology Development Agency said Nigeria’s opportunity in the global digital economy should extend beyond supplying labor for routine outsourcing tasks and instead position Nigerian professionals within more advanced, AI-augmented service segments. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the agency’s director-general, made the case during a strategic session also attended by Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Jumoke Oduwole and Education Minister Moruf Alausa.
Officials argued that building an AI-enabled services economy could create opportunities well beyond conventional tech firms, with sectors such as banking, telecommunications, healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing and logistics increasingly requiring workers who combine industry expertise with digital and AI skills. Abdullahi said trust, security and regulatory certainty would be essential to convincing global businesses to route higher-value digital work to Nigeria, and noted that the country’s broadband infrastructure remains a key constraint on the transition.
The push forms part of a broader effort by Nigerian officials to raise the country’s profile in artificial intelligence. Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Minister Bosun Tijani has separately proposed a National AI Trust intended to govern AI adoption, regulation and investment domestically while positioning Nigeria as a reference point for AI governance internationally. Tijani, who sits on the AI for Good Global Commission, has said the initiative is meant to help Nigeria capture the economic opportunities of AI while managing concerns around accountability and inclusion.
The technology sector’s ambitions were also on display at GITEX Nigeria 2026 in Lagos last month, where organizers said the country has built a substantial pool of tech talent and startups but must now focus on helping those companies scale internationally and access global capital and customers.
