A new International Monetary Fund (IMF) report reveals that Nigeria and several other developing nations need more digital infrastructure to effectively deploy AI. The shortfall persists despite Nigeria’s recent launch of its first Multilingual Large Language Model (LLM) and unveiling of an AI strategy in April. The IMF’s ‘AI Preparedness Index,’ which evaluates 174 economies, highlights that many developing countries like Nigeria are trailing in AI readiness due to inadequate digital infrastructure.
According to the Index’s interactive map, most African nations, with exceptions like Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa, exhibit low preparedness for AI. Wealthier economies are generally better equipped for AI adoption, and the IMF warns that the disparity could exacerbate existing global inequalities. The report suggests that while AI has the potential to enhance productivity and expand opportunities in countries like Nigeria, it may also widen the gap between those who can leverage the technology and those who cannot.
To address Nigeria’s challenges, the IMF recommends that emerging markets and developing economies invest heavily in digital infrastructure and worker training. For advanced economies, the priority should be on expanding social safety nets and fostering AI innovation and integration. International coordination is also essential to establish regulations that protect against AI risks and abuses while building public trust in the technology.
This week, Nigeria’s markets regulator has ordered the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, to halt its operations in the country. The move follows Nigeria’s central bank’s decision in 2021 to ban banks and financial institutions from dealing in or facilitating transactions in digital currencies. The Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission said that Binance Nigeria Limited, which was soliciting Nigerian investors through a website, was illegal. The order indicated that the company was not registered or regulated, making it illegal.
Despite the ban, Nigeria’s young, tech-savvy population has eagerly adopted cryptocurrencies, for example using peer-to-peer trading offered by crypto exchanges to avoid the financial sector ban. In an effort to find a middle ground between an outright ban on crypto assets and their unregulated use, Nigeria’s SEC published a set of regulations for digital assets last year.
As a result of the ban and the SEC’s actions, Binance is now required to halt its operations in Nigeria. It remains to be seen how the Nigerian authorities will implement the regulations and how the cryptocurrency industry will evolve in the country in the future.
Earlier this month the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also sued Binance and Coinbase for allegedly breaching its rules.
Nigeria is the first African country that introduced the digital version of its national currency. The e-Naira currency has been in use for more than a year now, but still lacks mass adoption. In a country of 200 million people, only 0.5% is using e-Naira on a daily basis. The Nigerian government is already using some of the programmability features of digital money, and it’s looking now to enhance them. According to reports from Bloomberg, the Nigerian government is seeking help from the US private tech companies to improve technology behind the virtual currency. Final idea is that at the end of this process, the Central bank of Nigeria achieves full custody and know-how on the technology needed to run a virtual currency environment.
The Nigerian government confirmed that they are looking at: ‘developing additional features and enhancements.”
