The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has declared that Nigeria has emerged as West Africa’s digital powerhouse, saying the country’s growing strength in digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity should become a major component of its foreign policy.
Tijani made the statement on Tuesday at the Second Seminar on Anticipatory, Cyber and Digital Diplomacy organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja.
The seminar, themed “From Awareness to Activation: Operationalising AI, Cyber and Digital Statecraft for Nigeria’s Foreign Policy,” brought together government officials, diplomats, policymakers and technology experts to discuss how emerging technologies could shape Nigeria’s global influence.
The minister said the nature of diplomacy was changing, with digital capability becoming as important as traditional measures of national power such as economic size, territory and military strength.
“Digital is now a major part of our lives in everything we do, and that’s the case for nations as well. Diplomacy is shifting away from just how big your country is, the size of your economy or defence. It is moving towards digital,” Tijani said.
He said Nigeria was strategically positioned to lead digital transformation in West Africa, noting that the country has its own communication satellites and the highest number of subsea internet cables in the region.
According to him, Nigeria has also become West Africa’s data hub, making the country increasingly important to global technology companies and neighbouring countries.
“The implication of this is that we are a powerful nation. We have always been, but in the digital space, we are a powerful nation,” he added.
Tijani disclosed that the Federal Government was strengthening Nigeria’s cybersecurity framework through the establishment of a Ministerial Advisory Council on Cybersecurity, which would provide a platform for government and private sector collaboration on emerging cyber threats.
He added that the government was adopting a resilience-based strategy to protect critical digital infrastructure, including subsea cables, fibre networks and communication satellites.
The minister also highlighted Nigeria’s progress in artificial intelligence, stating that the country recently ranked first in Africa for responsible AI development in an assessment conducted by a University of Cambridge research group.
He attributed the achievement to policies aimed at encouraging AI innovation while protecting national interests.
Tijani further revealed that Nigeria had developed its first government-backed large language model capable of understanding major local languages, including Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Ibibio and accented English.
“No one should build artificial intelligence that our people cannot understand,” he said.
He also announced that the Federal Executive Council had approved the creation of a National AI Trust to oversee investments, governance and responsible development of artificial intelligence in Nigeria.
On digital skills development, Tijani said the government’s Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme had trained nearly 300,000 young Nigerians across the country, with many already being connected to employment opportunities through partnerships with organisations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union.
Earlier, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, said artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and digital technologies were reshaping diplomacy and global governance.
He noted that the first edition of the seminar led to the creation of the Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Diplomacy Unit within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate Nigeria’s engagement on emerging technologies.
Enikanolaiye urged participants to develop practical strategies that would strengthen Nigeria’s diplomatic capacity and maintain the country’s leadership role in Africa’s digital transformation.
The Chair of the African Union Cybersecurity Experts Group and lead facilitator of the seminar, Abdul Hakeem Ajijola, said the programme was designed to prepare Nigeria for the opportunities and challenges created by emerging technologies.
He explained that anticipatory diplomacy involves preparing for future developments, cyber diplomacy focuses on international relations in cyberspace, while digital diplomacy involves using digital tools to advance national interests.
Ajijola noted that while the 2025 edition of the seminar focused on awareness, the current edition was centred on implementation and turning digital strategies into practical actions.
