Meta says it 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.

Meta’s Head of Public Policy, Anglophone West Africa, Sade Dada, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

She said the partnership would be delivered through its three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) Programme and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR).

Ms Dada said the initiative 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,” Ms Dada explained.

She said the AI Academy Nigeria would be delivered through three streams: AI skills development, a startup pitchathon and a developer bootcamp.

Ms Dada said the three streams would broaden access to foundational AI skills and provide advanced opportunities for developers and founders building AI-enabled solutions.

She said the startup pitchathon would support early-stage Nigerian startups using Meta’s AI technologies to solve real-world problems.

Ms Dada said applications for the pitchathon would close on August 21, with 10 startups to be shortlisted to pitch at GITEX Nigeria on September 3.

She said two winning startups would each receive $5,000 in cash funding and $2,000 in Meta advertising credits.

Ms Dada said the winners would also receive an all-expenses-paid opportunity to represent Nigeria at Meta’s AI summit in Istanbul, Türkiye.

She said they would pitch at the summit scheduled for November 23 and 24, alongside other innovators from across the region.

On the AI skills development programme, Ms Dada said it would be open to the full 3MTT community across Nigeria.

She said participants would access courses covering generative AI fundamentals and application development using Meta’s AI models.

Ms Dada said the courses would include building generative AI apps with Llama, prompt engineering with Llama two and three, and introducing multimodal Llama 3.2.

She said other courses would cover generative AI in data analytics, generative AI in social media marketing, and AI 101.

According to her, Startup bootcamp developed AI 101 for Meta as part of the learning programme.

Ms Dada said the courses would be delivered at no cost through Coursera, DeepLearning.AI and DataCamp.

She said the top 100 performers would be eligible for scholarships towards paid Meta Blueprint certifications and up to $5,000 in advertising credits.

She said RAIN would deliver the six-week developer bootcamp for a selected cohort of developers and startups.

She said the bootcamp would focus on hands-on AI development and help participants build functional and market-ready AI solutions.

According to her, participants will receive technical guidance and access to Meta’s network of AI experts.

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, said the partnership would equip developers, entrepreneurs and young professionals with practical AI skills.

Mr Tijani said it would also 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.

Olushola Ayoola, founder and chief executive officer of RAIN, said building Nigeria’s AI capacity required coordinated stakeholder efforts.

Mr 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.

The 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 August 21, 2026, with eligibility criteria and application details available on the AI Academy Nigeria platform.

 (NAN)