AI solutions can tackle Nigeria’s key challenges – Expert

A Research Scientist, Prof. Charles Adetunji, says that Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions in agriculture, healthcare, and finance hold immense potential to address Nigeria’s pressing developmental challenges and drive sustainable development.

Adetunji said this in an interview with the Newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja.

“AI applications with the strongest potential to address Nigeria’s critical challenges include precision agriculture for food security.

“Also, AI-powered healthcare diagnostics to bridge medical gaps and intelligent financial inclusion tools.

“The financial inclusion tools expand access to banking for underserved populations.

“These areas directly target Nigeria’s pressing issues of hunger, healthcare shortages, and poverty,’’ Adetunji said.

He explained that in precision farming, AI-driven drones and sensors could monitor soil health, crop growth, and pest infestations, while predictive analytics helped farmers optimise planting and harvesting schedules.

He said that with over 70 per cent of Nigerians engaged in agriculture, AI could significantly reduce post-harvest losses and improve yields.

He said machine learning models predicting rainfall patterns to guide irrigation planning are examples.

Adetunji said that in AI-powered diagnostics in health care, tools for detecting diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and cancer used image recognition.

“Digital assistants for medical screening can be used in rural areas; with Nigeria facing a shortage of doctors, AI can extend healthcare reach, especially in communities.

“AI systems analysing chest x-rays for early tuberculosis detection is an example,” he said.

According to the AI researcher, AI can help in fraud detection and secure digital payments.

Adetunji said that in Fintech, where millions of Nigerians are unbanked, AI could help microfinance institutions assess risk and provide loans to small businesses.

“AI-driven mobile banking apps offering microloans to rural entrepreneurs are a good example,’’ he said.