Nigeria is on track to become a key player in the global digital economy, harnessing local talent to promote innovation and growth.
Local startup Awarri has been selected to spearhead the development of Nigeria’s first artificial intelligence, as the country’s technology sector is experiencing significant growth.
According to local media, this ambitious endeavor is not only a technological accomplishment but also a significant employment opportunity.
Awarri has recruited more than 600 fellows from the federal government’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program to serve as data collectors in the development of a Large Language Multilingual Model (LLM).
Job Creation in Tech Space
In a July 24 announcement on the X social platform, Dr. Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, underlined the government’s commitment to promoting job creation in the tech space and highlighted the Awarri team’s rapid growth.
Moreover, Tijani has also emphasized the broader vision that underpins this initiative.
The government has undertaken a commitment to facilitate employment opportunities for the 3MTT associates as part of the ongoing technical skills training.
This aligns with President Tinubu’s promise to create one million tech jobs within the first two years of his administration.
The Minister emphasized the successful placement of numerous fellows from the first cohort of the program in internship roles across the nation.
Designed to fortify Nigeria’s digital economy, the 3MTT program is a fundamental component of the Nigerian President’s Renewed Hope agenda.
The program began with 30,000 Nigerians, which constituted 1% of the three million target.
However, it has since grown to include 270,000 participants in its second cohort.
Awarri’s Contributions
Awarri, which started its journey with 120 AI jobs, has rapidly evolved into a comprehensive technology company that provides a full-stack service that covers data collection, model development, and AI application development.
However, the startup’s mission aligns with the Nigerian government’s broader goals to establish the nation as a key player in the global AI landscape.
The Awarri-developed LLM is poised to serve as a significant milestone in Nigeria’s AI capabilities.
Meanwhile, at the end of a four-day AI workshop in Abuja in April, Tijani officially launched the project.
This collaborative effort is a partnership between Awarritech, DataDotOrg, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and the National Centre for AI and Robotics (NCAIR).
Furthermore, by training in five low-resource languages and accented English, the LLM is designed to improve language representation in existing datasets, thereby guaranteeing inclusivity and broad applicability.
