Microsoft empowers four million Nigerians with digital skills in five years – Official

Ms Ujam announced additional training of 350,000 Nigerians in Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills, describing it as a major milestone in its National Skills Initiative (AINSI).

Microsoft said on Tuesday that its longstanding partnership with the Federal Government of Nigeria had delivered digital training to over four million people since 2021.

The Director for Government Affairs at Microsoft for West Africa, Nonye Ujam, disclosed this at a media roundtable in Lagos.

Ms Ujam said that the milestone underscored Nigeria’s commitment to thriving in the digital economy.

She added that recent figures indicated that 350,000 individuals have been actively engaged in its specialised students’ programmes.

”With 63,000 completing specific training pathways and 43,000 receiving global certification,” she said.

Ms Ujam announced additional training of 350,000 Nigerians in Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills, describing it as a major milestone in its National Skills Initiative (AINSI).

The Microsoft executive said further that apart from the federal government, the skills initiative was also being carried out in collaboration with Data Science, Nigeria and Lagos Business School.

She said that the milestone reaffirmed Microsoft’s commitment to transforming Nigeria’s digital landscape to upskilling five million citizens.

“Microsoft is equipping developers for the future through developer-focused programmes, creating a strong pipeline of technical talent.

“Also, through government-driven initiatives like Developers in Government (DevsInGov) and the three Million Technical Talent Initiative (3MTT) led by the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, developers in public sectors have gained new skills,” Ms Ujam explained.

According to her, around 645 participants have been trained in analytics and AI integration.

She said that another 1,000 developers learned advanced skills in areas such as DevOps, machine learning and data science.

“These efforts are helping Nigeria’s workforce prepare for the future by advancing AI fluency across the digital ecosystem,” the Microsoft director said.

Also speaking at the event, the Country General Manager, Microsoft Nigeria and Ghana, Abideen Yusuf, said that Nigeria’s current AI adoption rate stood at 8.7 per cent, slightly below the Sub-Saharan average of 10 per cent.

Mr Yusuf said that with Africa’s Gross Domestic Product projected to gain $1.5 trillion from AI by 2030, Nigeria must position its youth population within a median age of 18 years to lead in this sector.

”Nigeria cannot afford to wait, AI is reshaping every sector and the countries that move fastest on skills will lead.

”We are focusing on three key indices: the frontier (innovation), Infrastructure (connectivity and power), and most importantly, skills,” he said.

According to Mr Yusuf, by collaborating with the government to equip leaders, developers and tech users, Microsoft is building a future-ready workforce.

It is also helping Nigerians adopt and adapt the technology, thereby maximising its potential, the country general manager noted.

One of Microsoft’s partners, the Dean, Lagos Business School (LBS), Olayinka David-West, said that the partnership had successfully trained 99 public sector leaders from 58 agencies.

Mrs David-West said that skill must go beyond technical building to include governance and risk management.

She said that the leaders were trained so as to be able to ask the right question about safety, ethics and how to use AI to enable credit access and improve agricultural cycles.

According to her, AI skilling is no longer optional for Nigeria’s digital future, it is the foundation of the nation’s competitiveness.

”At LBS, we believe that equipping leaders and citizens with AI capabilities is essential for driving inclusive growth, innovation and national transformation.”

According to the LBS dean, as it stands, a significant percentage of Nigerian graduates are still to acquire digital skills.

She highlighted the importance of workforce readiness.

Mrs David-West said that the second phase of Nigeria’s skilling programme under Microsoft’s AINSI aimed at reaching one million citizens in three years.

She said that AINSI was helping to drive a range of different programmes designed to embed AI skills across every sector of the economy.

The Founder, Data Science Nigeria, Bayo Adekanmbi, highlighted the structure used to reach the grassroots.

Mr Adekanmbi, who was represented by the Business Lead, DSN, Aanu Oyeniran, said that through Microsoft’s support, 38 training partners across the country had been empowered with infrastructure to remove barriers to learning.

He said that its collaboration with Microsoft had demonstrated that AI readiness required coordinated investment across every stakeholder group, government, developers, educators and communities.

According to him, by building capacity for evidence-driven governance, responsible innovation, classroom integration and community adoption, we are laying foundations for a globally competitive workforce.

Mr Adekanmbi said that true digital transformation happened when the entire ecosystem moved forward together.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the technology company says it is committed to making AI available broadly, and doing so responsibly with a mission to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more.

(NAN)