Meta has partnered with the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy (FMCIDE) and Robotics Artificial Intelligence Nigeria (RAIN) to expand access to Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills and support innovation in Nigeria.
The Head of Public Policy, Anglophone West Africa at Meta, Sade Dada, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
She said the partnership with the ministry would be implemented through its Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) Programme and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR).
Dada said the initiative, known as AI Academy Nigeria, would provide Nigerian developers, entrepreneurs and young professionals with practical AI training, funding opportunities and platforms to develop impactful solutions.
“The initiative, known as AI Academy Nigeria, will strengthen Nigeria’s AI talent and innovation ecosystem.
“The academy will help participants move from learning AI concepts to building functional products and solutions, while creating opportunities for startups and developers,” Dada explained.
She said AI Academy Nigeria would be delivered through three streams: AI Skills Development, a Startup Pitchathon and a Developer Bootcamp.
Dada said the Startup Pitchathon would support early-stage Nigerian startups using Meta’s AI technologies to solve real-world problems.
She said applications for the pitchathon would close on Aug. 21, with 10 startups to be shortlisted to pitch at GITEX Nigeria on Sept. 3.
She said two winning startups would each receive $5,000 in cash funding and $2,000 in Meta advertising credits, as well as an all-expenses-paid opportunity to represent Nigeria at the AI Summit by Meta in Istanbul, Türkiye.
The winners would pitch at the summit scheduled for Nov. 23 and 24, alongside other innovators from across the region.
On the AI Skills Development Programme, Dada said it would be open to the full 3MTT community across Nigeria, with participants accessing courses covering generative AI fundamentals and application development using Meta’s AI models.
The courses would include “Building Generative AI Apps with Llama”, “Prompt Engineering with Llama 2 and 3” and “Introducing Multimodal Llama 3.2”, as well as courses on generative AI in data analytics, social media marketing and AI 101.
She said the courses would be delivered at no cost through Coursera, DeepLearning.AI and DataCamp.
Dada said the top 100 performers would be eligible for scholarships towards paid Meta Blueprint certifications and up to $5,000 in advertising credits.
She added that RAIN would deliver the six-week Developer Bootcamp for a selected cohort of developers and startups, focusing on hands-on AI development and helping participants build functional and market-ready solutions.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, said the partnership would equip developers, entrepreneurs and young professionals with practical AI skills.
Tijani said the initiative would create pathways for innovation and globally competitive startups while strengthening Nigeria’s position in Africa’s digital economy.
He said the initiative reflected the government’s commitment to building a thriving AI ecosystem through strategic public-private collaboration.
Dr Olushola Ayoola, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RAIN, said building Nigeria’s AI capacity required coordinated efforts among stakeholders.
Ayoola said RAIN was proud to partner with Meta, FMCIDE and 3MTT to deliver a programme reflecting what was possible when the right partners aligned around a shared goal.
AI Academy Nigeria is a national capacity-building initiative connecting AI skills development with practical application and entrepreneurship.
Applications for the Startup Pitchathon will close on Aug. 21, 2026, with eligibility criteria and application details available on the AI Academy Nigeria platform.
