Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, has unveiled the Nigerian Atlas for Languages and AI at Scale (N-ATLAS) on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80) in New York.
Tijani described N-ATLAS as proof that Africa is not merely catching up in artificial intelligence (AI) but actively shaping its future. He explained that the tool is a multilingual, multimodal, open-source large language model designed to map and digitise Nigeria’s linguistic heritage while building datasets to power inclusive AI solutions.
According to him, the project reflects a national commitment to unity, inclusion, and global contribution, while placing African voices at the center of the global AI revolution.
Also at UNGA80, the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, called for stronger collaboration between government and the private sector to unlock Nigeria’s economic potential.
Sanusi argued that Nigeria could not rely solely on government spending to drive lasting growth, stressing that public-private partnerships are vital for national development. He highlighted modern and reliable infrastructure as key to meeting the aspirations of millions of Nigerians.
