Nigeria launches first multilingual large language model in Africa

Communications Minister Dr. Bosun Tijani revealed a collaboration between 21st Century Technologies, and Galaxy Backbone to expedite the progress of artificial intelligence projects crucial to the nation.

Through the Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, the Nigerian government has launched Nigeria’s first multilingual large language model (LLM) as the country pushes forward to take a leadership position in artificial intelligence (AI) development in Africa. 

Nigeria’s Communications Minister, Dr. Bosun Tijani, announced on Friday, April 19, that the LLM launch stemmed from a four-day AI workshop held earlier that week in the country’s capital, Abuja.

According to Tijani, the launch of the AI tool was facilitated by a collaboration involving Nigerian AI firm Awarritech, global tech company DataDotOrg, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and the National Centre for AI and Robotics (NCAIR). The Minister stated,

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