Nigeria faces being left behind in AI advancements unless it takes immediate measures, warns the World Bank

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Nigeria and other developing countries risk missing the artificial intelligence revolution unless they urgently embrace and adapt the technology to their local realities, the World Bank Group’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President for Development Economics, Indermit Gill, warned on Wednesday.

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Gill gave the warning while delivering the keynote address at the 7th Africa Emerging Markets Forum in Abuja, organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria in collaboration with the Emerging Markets Forum and the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa.

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He cautioned governments against allowing fears of job losses associated with AI in advanced economies to shape policies in countries such as Nigeria.

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Gill said, “There is a danger that countries like Nigeria, countries like India and others will miss this industrial revolution.”

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Drawing a historical comparison, he added, “You have to remember… what happened when we missed the Industrial Revolution? You ended up being behind for 200 years. You can’t miss this.”

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According to Gill, AI presents greater opportunities than risks for developing countries because it is more likely to complement workers than replace them.

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He explained that AI is evolving much faster than previous transformative technologies and is highly context-specific, making adaptation more important than simply adopting foreign technologies or attempting to develop frontier AI models.

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“The highest returns are actually in back-end predictive AI,” he said, noting that predictive AI could significantly improve agriculture, healthcare, education and judicial services in developing economies.

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“These are not hypotheticals. These are actual numbers,” he added, citing examples from Kenya, Bangladesh and India’s Telangana State.

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Gill said only about 10 per cent of jobs in poorer economies were likely to be adversely affected by AI, compared with 30 to 40 per cent in advanced economies, arguing that widespread fears of mass unemployment were misplaced.

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He also dismissed concerns that small businesses would be left behind, saying World Bank research showed that firms in developing countries, regardless of size, were increasingly capable of adopting AI technologies.

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He urged governments to prioritise predictive AI, invest in digital infrastructure and skills, promote interoperability between AI systems and support industry-led standards rather than relying solely on mandatory regulation.

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“No country has enough money to compete with the US and China,” he said, adding that interoperability represented a more practical strategy for countries such as Nigeria.

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Also speaking, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said the current period of geopolitical uncertainty should not discourage developing countries from embracing technology and global trade opportunities.

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She argued that globalisation was evolving rather than disappearing and disclosed that global goods and services trade reached a record $34.65tn in 2025, representing a seven per cent increase over the previous year.

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“The value of global goods and services trade was at a record $34.65tn in 2025,” she said, adding that “72 per cent of global goods trade continues to flow on core WTO most-favoured nation tariff terms.”

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Okonjo-Iweala urged African countries to leverage AI and the global shift towards supply chain diversification to industrialise instead of remaining exporters of raw materials.

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Warning that the continent could squander a historic opportunity, she added, “Quite frankly, the time to seize this opportunity is now. As geopolitics exerts some demand pressure for critical mineral supply chain diversification, if we miss this opportunity, I’m afraid we would have missed a lot.”

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The WTO chief also commended the Central Bank of Nigeria’s recent reforms, urging the country to sustain macroeconomic stability while exercising caution in debt management.

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The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, said Africa must move beyond being a consumer of technology and become a producer of AI-driven solutions.

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“Africa must move beyond being consumers of technology. We must become creators, developing African solutions to African challenges,” Cardoso said.

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He identified artificial intelligence as one of three major global shifts reshaping the continent’s future, alongside trade fragmentation and increasingly selective capital flows.

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According to him, Africa must invest in reliable electricity, affordable connectivity, digital infrastructure and AI-ready talent to compete globally, while strengthening regional trade through the African Continental Free Trade Area.

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Cardoso also highlighted Nigeria’s recent reforms, including exchange rate unification, improved transparency in the foreign exchange market and tighter monetary policy, saying the measures had strengthened external buffers and restored investor confidence.

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