TeKnowledge and Microsoft have expanded their partnership to accelerate Nigeria’s national Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills development and enhance the country’s global competitiveness.
Ms Aileen Allkins, President of TeKnowledge, announced the development at a news conference on Thursday in Lagos. She detailed the company’s expanded role as a delivery partner for Phase 2 of Microsoft’s AI National Skilling Initiative in Nigeria.
Allkins said AI capability has become a defining measure of national economic competitiveness, with a widening gap between early investors and those that delay. She noted that AI is projected to contribute trillions of dollars to the global economy over the next decade.
“For Nigeria, with a population exceeding 200 million and one of the youngest workforces globally, AI capability development represents a strategic economic lever,” she said. “Expanding practical AI skills at scale strengthens employability, drives innovation, and accelerates digital prosperity across sectors.”
She highlighted that half of TeKnowledge’s global technical workforce of over 4,000 experts are based in Lagos, underscoring Nigeria’s strategic importance to the company.
Allkins emphasized that leading AI nations invest in inclusive skills development across students, public sector workers, and corporate leaders. “Nigeria, given its youthful and fast-growing workforce, can be central to Africa’s AI story. But national ambition must be matched with structured execution. This programme is about measurable outcomes, not just announcing intent,” she said.
She reaffirmed TeKnowledge’s long-term commitment to Nigeria, describing the country as at an inflection point where AI adoption and workforce readiness decisions will shape economic competitiveness for decades.
Mr Olugbolahan Olusanya, Territory Director for Africa at TeKnowledge, said the expanded partnership builds on 2025 groundwork, when the company helped design and deliver one of Nigeria’s most extensive AI capability-building programmes. Phase 2 includes a fresh commitment to train at least 10,000 Nigerians.
Olusanya described it as part of broader efforts to strengthen workforce readiness and inclusive AI adoption. He noted that TeKnowledge has trained over 100,000 professionals globally in AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, and has partnered with governments on national digital academies.
In Nigeria, the company has supported initiatives like the Microsoft-sponsored 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme, contributing to training thousands with measurable productivity gains.
He stressed that with Nigeria’s population of over 200 million and median age of 18, AI capability is a strategic imperative. “Globally, about 80 per cent of AI investments fail due to poor adoption strategies, not poor technology. For us, adoption is key,” he said. “We embed change management models to ensure organizations not only learn AI, but apply, sustain, and scale it. The question is not whether AI will reshape Nigeria’s industries—it is already happening in financial services and telecommunications. The question is whether our workforce will lead the transformation or simply respond to it.”
Ms Olatomiwa Williams, Chief Growth and AI Officer for Microsoft Middle East and Africa, said the initiative aligns with Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and organization in the AI era.
She noted that Phase 1 reached over 50,000 Nigerians with foundational and intermediate AI skills through Microsoft-accredited pathways, with more than 3,000 completing advanced training and earning certifications. The phase included AI hackathons focused on identity solutions, document verification, risk assessment, and fraud detection in finance, plus career fairs that led to immediate employment for some participants.
Williams said Phase 2 emphasizes structured, employment-linked skilling for undergraduates, NYSC members, women, underrepresented communities, developers, 3MTT fellows, and business/executive leaders. A key addition is in-person AI training for NYSC members to embed literacy early in careers.
“The NYSC engages hundreds of thousands of graduates annually. Reaching them physically ensures AI literacy is embedded in their career trajectory while it is still being shaped,” she said.
Phase 2 will also feature in-person engagements at three Nigerian universities, gender-focused inclusion strategies, a national career fair, Copilot and AI fluency tracks, and cybersecurity awareness.
“Nigeria stands at a defining moment in its digital journey. AI is no longer a future concept; it is a present opportunity,” Williams said. “This next phase is about scale, depth, and measurable impact. Microsoft’s AI Skilling Initiative plays a critical role in enabling Nigeria’s national digital skilling efforts. By deepening AI skills and diffusing AI adoption throughout the economy, Nigeria and the African continent stand to benefit.”
This version fixes grammatical issues (e.g., missing words like “this” in the original lead, awkward phrasing, tense consistency), removes redundancy, tightens sentences for better readability, and preserves all key facts, quotes, and the professional tone while aligning with recent reports on the initiative.
