NITDA Partners Nkenne AI To Advance Nigeria’s Artificial Intelligence Agenda

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has entered into a strategic collaboration with Nkenne AI to drive innovation in artificial intelligence, with a focus on language translation technologies.

At a stakeholder engagement session, Dr. Bunmi Ajala, National Director of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (a subsidiary of NITDA), represented NITDA’s Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa. Ajala outlined the agency’s ambitious roadmap, which includes achieving 70% digital literacy by 2027, building a strong talent pipeline, and integrating AI into public service delivery. He also emphasized the importance of high-performance infrastructure such as GPUs and TPUs, alongside the “GovNet” initiative, to support Nigeria’s growing startup ecosystem.

Nkenne AI’s CEO, Michael Odokara-Okigbo, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to localized innovation, highlighting sector-specific AI translation solutions for healthcare, fintech, and governance. He stressed the need for rigorous data processing and pledged support for emerging startups to bridge Nigeria’s linguistic and technological gaps.

Both parties agreed that the partnership will focus on building sustainable business models and infrastructure to generate long-term economic value and position Nigeria as a continental hub for artificial intelligence.