Develop African AI alternatives to tackle the continent's challenges, University of Lagos VC

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, has called on African countries to develop homegrown artificial intelligence ￰0￱ claimed that these African-native AI solutions should be developed to tackle challenges faced by the ￰1￱ University of Lagos VC made the call at the 5th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (MIRG-ICAIR 2025), held for three days at the University of Lagos Multipurpose Hall, Akoka, ￰2￱ conference, which was themed “Building Sustainable AI-Driven Transformation Infrastructures for African Economies,” was attended by undergraduates and postgraduate students, as well as participants from other institutions ￰3￱ technology organizations also participated in the event, showcasing AI tools and other ￰4￱ of Lagos VC urges African-native AI solutions Speaking at the conference, Ogunsola, represented by Prof Olufemi Saibu, the Director of Quality Assurance and Servicom Unit, said that Africa needs robust and scalable digital technologies to improve ￰5￱ addition, she noted that these technologies can also be used to address sector-specific ￰6￱ mentioned that the University of Lagos has continued to lead in AI research and innovation, with recent initiatives aimed at positioning students to be leaders in emerging ￰7￱ said, “At the University of Lagos, we are making giant strides in AI ￰8￱ last month (October), we launched the ‘OpenAI Academy for Africa,’ and by the end of this month, we will be launching a world-class AI lab donated by the United Nations programmes.” She also added that the school is committed to raising the standards in educating, empowering, and improving the deployment of AI across ￰9￱ added that the school is planning to create a Faculty of Computing and ￰10￱ noted that it is a deliberate attempt to build a unit that will be focused on technology, but will also develop solutions that are Africa-oriented and indigenous to the challenges of the ￰11￱ at the event was Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy of ￰12￱ was represented by the National Director for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Dr Bunmi ￰13￱ Ajala highlighted that AI has been reshaping economies and transforming sectors like agriculture, healthcare, education, and public services.

“AI is our present reality, and it is reshaping the ￰14￱ has gone beyond technological trends; it is a fundamental infrastructure for improving productivity across key sectors like agriculture, healthcare, education, and public services,” he said. “For Nigeria, a nation brimming with youthful talent but facing solvable challenges, AI offers an opportunity to leapfrog developmental stages and transform our ￰15￱ is already making a significant impact.” Professor of the School of Information and Department of Linguistics at the University of British Columbia, Muhammad Abdul-Mageed, also spoke at the event, urging Adrian researchers to build AI tools that reflect the continent’s linguistic and cultural diversity.

“We speak many languages, and we don’t have to rely on technology developed elsewhere. It’s time to build our own ￰16￱ profession needs technology to ￰17￱ represent the communities we belong to, and we must look for solutions to their ￰18￱ future is Africa,” he ￰19￱ Chika Yinka-Banjo, the University of Lagos Head of Department of Computer Science, also noted that the department has become a vibrant hub for innovation. “I want to use this opportunity to say that Computer Science, which is under the Faculty of Computing and Informatics, is a vibrant ￰20￱ group, MIRG, is also vibrant. I want to welcome everyone, and I wish you a successful conference.” If you're reading this, you’re already ￰21￱ there with our newsletter .