By Emmanuel Ogbodo
Awarri, a Nigerian startup chosen to create the country’s first AI, has enlisted over 500 fellows from the federal government’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program as data collectors for the development of a Large Language Multilingual Model.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, announced this on Wednesday, emphasising the government’s commitment to generating more tech jobs for Nigerians.
“I am pleased with the growth of the Awarri team since its inception in November 2023 to 120 staff members, with the addition of over 500 fellows from our 3MTT Nigeria program serving as data collectors in building Nigeria’s first Large Language Multilingual Model.
“I look forward to seeing more companies in this space as we steadily build a tech workforce that will contribute to global AI development,” the Minister stated in a post on X on Wednesday night.
The Minister noted that Awarri began operations with 100 AI jobs in Ikorodu in November last year. He described the startup as a comprehensive provider, offering services from data collection to model creation and AI application development.
At the conclusion of a 4-day AI workshop in Abuja in April, Tijani announced the launch of Nigeria’s first Multilingual Large Language Model (LLM).
He explained that the AI tool was developed through a collaboration between Nigerian AI company Awarritech, global tech firm DataDotOrg, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and the National Centre for AI and Robotics (NCAIR).
“The LLM will be trained in five low-resource languages and accented English to enhance language representation in current datasets for developing AI solutions. Over 7,000 fellows from the 3MTT Nigeria program will support the project,” the Minister stated.
As part of the ongoing technical skills training, the government has pledged to facilitate job placements for 3MTT fellows, aligning with President Tinubu’s commitment to creating a million tech jobs within his administration’s first two years.
In announcing the selection of fellows for the program’s second cohort, the Communications Minister revealed that many first-cohort fellows were being placed in internships across the country.
Tijani emphasised that the 3MTT program is vital to the Renewed Hope agenda, aiming to develop Nigeria’s technical talent base to support its digital economy and position Nigeria as a global talent exporter.
The program began with 30,000 Nigerians, representing 1% of the 3 million target. The 270,000 fellows selected for the second cohort bring the total to 10%. To achieve the program’s target, Tijani stated that the phases would be implemented based on a framework co-created with key stakeholders, including government agencies, training providers, educational institutions, development agencies, and the private sector.
