Nigeria’s placement at 72nd out of 188 countries in the 2025 Government AI Readiness Index gives grounds for cautious optimism. It shows that the country’s ambition to carve out a meaningful role in the global AI landscape is no longer merely rhetorical. The ranking places Nigeria among the better performers in Sub-Saharan Africa and illustrates that policies drafted over the past few years are beginning to register beyond our borders.
The index, produced by Oxford Insights, assessed 195 governments using 69 indicators ranging across policy capacity, governance, AI infrastructure, public sector adoption, development and diffusion, and resilience. It is designed to evaluate how prepared governments are to deploy artificial intelligence for public service delivery. In an era where AI is reshaping economics, security, education and administration, national readiness counts for something more than prestige.
Nigeria’s fourth place in Sub-Saharan Africa, behind Kenya in 65th, South Africa in 67th and Mauritius in 71st, reflects a competitive showing relative to regional peers. Ten African countries featured in the global top 100, which suggests that the continent is slowly assembling the foundations for an AI-driven future.
Oxford Insights described Nigeria as “amongst the highest ranking countries globally from the continent,” citing recent policy initiatives and domestic-sector investment as evidence of progress. The report drew attention to a 35th place global ranking in policy capacity and 49th in development and diffusion, achievements that stem from a growing AI ecosystem, an expanding talent pipeline and early attempts to move beyond strategy into actual implementation. Nigeria’s launch of the Nigeria AI Scaling Hub was cited as an example of efforts to embed AI within government systems instead of leaving policies on paper.
Even so, policy traction must not obscure the hard truth of structural deficits. The report made clear that Nigeria continues to wrestle with poor digital and energy infrastructure, slow uptake within the public sector and limited AI-specific systems deployment. Sub-Saharan Africa’s position at the bottom of the nine global regions assessed, with an average score of 28.04, serves as a warning that relative regional strength is not a substitute for genuine capacity.
Political leadership has recently shown renewed interest in AI development. At the University of Jos on 7 January 2026, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, announced the establishment of a National AI Centre of Excellence to be hosted on the campus.
Tijani said the initiative indicated a refusal for Nigeria to act as a passive consumer of AI technologies or a rule-taker in global AI governance. He remarked that “AI is built on numbers, and Nigeria has the numbers,” encouraging domestic universities to drive research on local datasets and contextual intelligence rather than depending solely on models trained abroad. Such gestures are welcome, though insufficient on their own. Nigeria’s challenge is no longer the absence of strategy; it is the lack of seamless execution across government systems.
The Oxford Insights report depicts a nation with clear ambition and respectable ideas, although it struggles to convert policies into everyday tools for service delivery. That gap must close if Nigeria intends to harness AI for governance, productivity and national competitiveness.
Future editions of the Government AI Readiness Index will test whether Nigeria can sustain momentum. As more African states adopt AI policies, launch innovation hubs and court investment, the race will favour those who translate planning into platforms that citizens actually use.
Nigeria has signalled intent and demonstrated capacity in specific pillars. The next phase demands infrastructure that works, institutions that collaborate and leaders who remain attentive long after the announcement cycle ends.