*Dr. 鈥橞osun Tijani, Minister for Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, announces N2.8 billion commitments from Google, a global tech giant, to support the Federal Government鈥檚 efforts at accelerating growth in the Nigeria digital economy as a significant move in alignment with the Ministry鈥檚 Strategic Blueprint

Gbenga Kayode | 绿帽献妻

As part of the Federal Government of Nigeria鈥檚 efforts at providing public officials and policymakers with access to requisite resources and training on Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance and application, Google, a global tech giant, has announced N2.8 billion commitments to accelerating growth in the Nigeria Digital Economy ecosystem.

绿帽献妻 reports Dr. 鈥橞osun Tijani, Honourable Minister for Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, who disclosed this development, said the Google team, led by Matt Brittin President, EMEA Business & Operations, made the commitment at a meeting Thursday, October 31, 2024, in Abuja, FCT.

Dr. Tijani, in a statement via his verified social media account, said: 鈥淓arlier鈥� we announced a N2.8 billion commitments from Google to support our ministry鈥檚 efforts at accelerating growth in Nigeria鈥檚 digital economy.

鈥淭his significant commitment, which is in alignment with our Strategic Blueprint, will be directed towards the following initiatives.鈥�

The Minister also highlighted DeepTech Ready Upskilling Programme, which involves a training programme 鈥渨hich will operate within the framework of our 3MTT Nigeria initiative to empower 20,000 Nigerians with advanced technical skills in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.鈥�

Other initiatives include Experience AI Programme, co-developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation and Google DeepMind to introduce young people aged 11-14 to the fundamentals of AI.

鈥淕oogle will provide resources and training to 25,000 educators to reach and inspire 125,000 learners across Nigeria,鈥� noted he.

Another is Apolitical Government AI Campus Programme, which is described as a virtual platform providing government officials and policymakers with access to resources and training on AI governance and application.

According to Tijani, Google will empower 100 leadership-level and 1,000 practitioner-level public servants to effectively utilise AI in their roles.

The Minister further affirmed the N100million AI Fund, which he highlighted as a joint effort between NCAIR Nigeria and Google announced a few weeks back to award N10million each to promising Nigerian AI startups.

He revealed the 10 selected beneficiaries would also gain access to Google’s AI tools and resources, including up to $3.5 million in Google Cloud Credits, mentorship from Google engineers, and technical support from NCAIR.

Enthused Tijani stated: 鈥淚 appreciate the entire Google team for betting big on our technology ecosystem and their continued support.

鈥淚 look forward to building on our partnership as we continue on our path of Digital Transformation in Nigeria.鈥�