Nigerian companies are ramping up artificial intelligence (AI) adoption while making privacy protection a top priority, with 40% of organisations now dedicating more than 30% of their IT budgets to privacy, a new study has shown.
The report, The AI Privacy Equation: The Nigerian Model of Responsible AI Adoption, was conducted by Arion Research on behalf of software company Zoho. It found that Nigerian businesses are embedding AI responsibly, with 94% of organisations employing a dedicated privacy officer or team — well above global averages.
“The Nigerian model challenges the conventional wisdom that AI adoption requires privacy trade-offs. When 84% of organisations strengthen their privacy measures through AI implementation rather than weakening them, it demonstrates that privacy-conscious design can actually enhance AI outcomes,” said Michael Fauscette, CEO and Chief Analyst at Arion Research.
The financial sector is at the forefront of AI adoption, making up 29% of respondents, with key use cases spanning customer service automation, software development, and marketing optimisation. Despite progress, skills shortages remain a hurdle, with 37% of companies citing lack of expertise as the top barrier. To bridge the gap, firms are prioritising training in data analysis, AI literacy, and prompt engineering.
The study, based on 386 respondents, revealed that 93% of Nigerian organisations have embarked on their AI journey, with more than half led directly by CEOs or executives. It also noted that the Nigerian Data Protection Act has spurred companies to adopt regular audits, data minimisation, and explainability requirements in AI systems.
