FG Moves to Integrate AI, Cybersecurity into Nigeria's Foreign Policy

Nigeria's Federal Government has announced plans to integrate artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and other digital technologies into its foreign policy framework, aiming to strengthen the country's diplomatic engagement and its role in shaping global digital governance.

Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, announced the plans on August 7, 2026, in Abuja at the Second Seminar on Anticipatory, Cyber and Digital Diplomacy (ACDD 2.0), a follow-up to an inaugural seminar held the previous year.

That first seminar led to the creation of an Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Diplomacy Unit within the Ministry's International Organizations Department, which officials say is now shaping how Nigeria approaches AI governance discussions at multilateral bodies. Enikanolaiye said Nigeria is also working toward a National AI Trust to oversee the country's broader AI ecosystem.

Officials pointed to steps already taken to build domestic AI capacity, including a government-backed large language model that supports several Nigerian languages, and continued investment in the country's fibre-optic infrastructure, which at roughly 90,000 kilometres already gives Nigeria the highest number of subsea cable connections in West Africa.

Enikanolaiye said “rapid developments in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and digital technology” are reshaping diplomacy, and pointed to the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership as one avenue through which Nigeria is building cybersecurity capacity via threat intelligence sharing and critical infrastructure protection support.

Source: Vanguard