Nigeria has published 20 peer-reviewed artificial intelligence (AI) research papers in less than two years, marking a significant step in the country’s bid to establish itself as a hub for AI research output.
The milestone follows the launch of the Nigerian Artificial Intelligence Research Scheme (NAIRS) in 2024 by the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Olubunmi Ajala, national director of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, said the programme was designed to reverse a long-standing trend. “We discovered thousands of AI papers authored by Nigerians, but none tied to Nigerian institutions,” he said at GITEX Nigeria in Abuja. “That’s why NAIRS was created, to give Nigerian researchers, both at home and in the diaspora, a structured platform to produce Nigeria-led AI research.”
More than 4,000 researchers applied to the first call, with 45 consortia of academics and startups selected. Each group received up to ₦5 million ($3,400) in grants and a mandate to publish research in one of five areas: agriculture, healthcare, education, sustainability and utilities.
By August 2025, the initiative had produced 20 published papers, including two in Springer journals, with several projects already tested in the field. These include a computer vision tool using YOLOv8 models to detect “tomato Ebola,” a crop disease, and a smart traffic system that adjusts green-light time in real time instead of fixed cycles.
Ajala said the next phase of NAIRS would focus on patents, biotech applications and commercialisation. “Global partners are keen to see how AI can address African realities, and Nigeria is beginning to provide answers,” he said.
