National AI Innovation Challenge 2027

The National AI Innovation Challenge 2027 is a national technology competition designed to strengthen the development, adoption and practical use of Nigeria’s sovereign artificial intelligence capabilities. The challenge is centred on N ATLAS, the Nigerian Atlas for Languages and AI at Scale, an open source multilingual large language model developed to support Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and Nigerian accented English, alongside automatic speech recognition capabilities for voice applications.

The challenge invites Nigerian universities, research institutions, startups, technology companies, social enterprises, independent developers and innovation teams to build practical solutions using N ATLAS. Applicants are expected to move beyond concepts and proposals by developing working technical artefacts that can be tested in real world settings.

The programme focuses on three major areas: developer infrastructure, voice first access and sectoral fine tuning. Solutions can address practical needs in areas including education, agriculture, healthcare, legal rights, civic information and financial literacy. The challenge is implemented through the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation, under the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, in partnership with Awarri Technologies.

About the Opportunity

The National AI Innovation Challenge is designed to help transform N ATLAS from an open source AI model into practical national infrastructure. Participants are expected to develop tools and applications that make the model easier to use, expand access to digital services through supported Nigerian languages and adapt AI capabilities to important sectors.

The challenge has three problem statements:

• Developer Infrastructure: Build tools such as software development kits, browser based testing environments, fine tuning starter kits, evaluation tools and developer documentation that make N ATLAS easier to integrate and extend.

• Voice First Access: Develop accessible services using N ATLAS automatic speech recognition. Possible channels include WhatsApp voice services, USSD based applications, interactive voice response systems and low bandwidth mobile applications.

• Sectoral Fine Tuning: Adapt N ATLAS for specific Nigerian sectors such as education, primary healthcare, smallholder agriculture, legal rights, civic literacy and financial literacy.

Each team may submit to only one problem statement. All submissions must demonstrate genuine integration with N ATLAS rather than simply connecting another general purpose AI model.

Opportunity Benefits

• Technical clinics and office hours

• N ATLAS onboarding support

• Technical resources and reference materials

• University roadshows and ecosystem briefings

• N ATLAS API credentials for shortlisted teams

• Compute credits through partner infrastructure

• Technical mentorship during the acceleration phase

• Support to strengthen and improve submitted solutions

• Invitations to the Nigeria AI Innovators Summit

• Inclusion in the NITDA AI talent registry

• Priority consideration for government AI pilot opportunities

• NCAIR research laboratory partnership opportunities for academic winners

• N ATLAS co contributor recognition for eligible winners

• Federal Government recognition

• Publication and model card support

• National AI researcher registry inclusion

• Government procurement pathway review for eligible enterprise winners

• ONDI incubation support

• Investor introductions

• N ATLAS API integration support

• Inclusion in the national AI startup ecosystem directory

Programme Areas

1. Developer Infrastructure

Applicants can create developer tools that improve how N ATLAS is accessed, tested, adapted and deployed. Examples include Python or JavaScript software development kits, browser based playgrounds, fine tuning tools, evaluation resources and bilingual technical documentation.

2. Voice First Access

This area focuses on applications for Nigerians who may not rely primarily on typing. Potential applications include education support, agricultural advisory services, primary health information, civic information and financial literacy delivered through voice enabled channels.

3. Sectoral Fine Tuning

Teams can fine tune N ATLAS for a clearly defined sector and demonstrate measurable improvement over the base model. The resulting model must be made available through a documented API that other developers can integrate.

Eligibility Criteria

General Eligibility

• Applicants must be Nigerian citizens or registered Nigerian entities

• Submissions must be original work that has not previously received an award in another competition

• Each team may submit to only one problem statement

• Every submission must contain a functioning technical artefact integrated with N ATLAS

• Applications and supporting materials must be submitted in English

• Concept only proposals without working builds are not eligible

• Solutions that are not integrated with N ATLAS are not eligible

Academia and Research Track

• Teams should consist of 2 to 5 members

• The team must include at least one enrolled student or postgraduate researcher

• The team must have a faculty supervisor

• The team lead must be enrolled in or employed by an accredited Nigerian university or research institution

• An institutional endorsement letter signed by the Head of Department or equivalent is required

Innovation and Enterprise Track

• Teams should consist of 2 to 5 members

• Individual applicants must be Nigerian citizens aged 18 or above

• Company applicants must be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission

• Diaspora teams must have at least 50 percent of their members based in Nigeria

• Registered organisations must provide a CAC certificate

• Individual applicants must provide valid identification

Required Application Materials

Every submission must include:

• A working technical artefact such as a repository, deployed application, published model, live API or dataset

• Documentation demonstrating N ATLAS integration

• Evidence of real world validation using actual users, real data or live benchmarks

• Technical documentation covering architecture, setup and usage

• A three to five minute video demonstrating the solution from end to end

• Team profile containing names, affiliations and roles

• Institutional endorsement for the Academia and Research Track

• CAC certificate or valid identification for the Innovation and Enterprise Track

Additional validation requirements apply according to the selected problem statement:

• Developer Infrastructure submissions require at least two external beta testers

• Voice First Access submissions require at least 50 documented real user interactions

• Sectoral Fine Tuning submissions require a benchmark containing at least 500 examples compared with the base N ATLAS model

How to Apply

1. Review the official National AI Innovation Challenge requirements and select one of the three problem statements.
2. Choose the appropriate participation track based on whether you are applying through Academia and Research or Innovation and Enterprise.
3. Build a functioning technical solution that directly integrates with N ATLAS.
4. Test the solution using real users, real data or the required benchmark for your selected problem statement.
5. Prepare the working artefact, N ATLAS integration evidence, technical documentation and three to five minute demonstration video.
6. Prepare the required team information and institutional or registration documents.
7. Submit the completed application through the appropriate official application portal before October 12, 2026, at 11:59 PM WAT.