{"id":79976,"date":"2026-03-09T13:27:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T13:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/?p=79976"},"modified":"2026-03-09T13:27:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T13:27:46","slug":"teknowledge-expands-partnership-with-microsoft-to-advance-national-ai-skills-development-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/2026\/03\/09\/teknowledge-expands-partnership-with-microsoft-to-advance-national-ai-skills-development-in-nigeria\/","title":{"rendered":"TeKnowledge expands partnership with Microsoft to advance national AI skills development in Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Expanded collaboration will support large-scale AI capability development across Nigeria, strengthening workforce readiness and accelerating inclusive Artificial Intelligence adoption.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TeKnowledge, a global expert technology services company specialising in helping organisations become AI First, has announced an expanded role as an implementation and delivery partner for Phase 2 of Microsoft\u2019s AI National Skilling Initiative in Nigeria. The partnership forms part of a broader effort to strengthen national workforce readiness and support inclusive adoption of Artificial Intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collaboration builds on groundwork laid in 2025, when TeKnowledge helped design and deliver one of Nigeria\u2019s most extensive AI capability-building efforts. The programme was structured not as a pilot but as a nationwide model focused on translating growing interest in Artificial Intelligence into practical, employable skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through a combination of large-scale awareness campaigns, structured learning pathways, hands-on technical training and a developer-focused hackathon, the initiative emphasised applied learning and workforce outcomes. More than 50,000 Nigerians were reached with foundational and intermediate AI skills, while more than 3,000 participants completed advanced training and earned Microsoft AI certifications across multiple technical tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working alongside existing national capacity-building programmes, including the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) initiative, the programme also delivered a co-ordinated training effort for developers and hosted an Agentic AI Hackathon under the Microsoft AI National Skilling Initiative framework. The hackathon brought together emerging developers to design production-ready AI solutions addressing real-world challenges in the fintech sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants developed nine applied Agentic AI solutions using Microsoft Semantic Kernel, with use cases spanning document verification, risk assessment and fraud detection, demonstrating how advanced AI systems can be deployed responsibly within regulated industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support employment outcomes, TeKnowledge convened a dedicated Career Fair, connecting participants with employers and ecosystem partners. Several learners secured roles immediately while others entered defined job placement pathways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, the initiative is scaling further by expanding outcome-driven partnerships across universities and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), while engaging business leaders, developers, entrepreneurs, youth and women to broaden participation and impact. Delivery follows a hybrid model combining virtual instruction, hands-on projects and targeted in-person engagements to extend reach while maintaining depth across advanced technical tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olugbolahan Olusanya, Territory Director for Africa, TeKnowledge, said: \u201cNigeria stands at a defining moment in its digital journey. AI is no longer a future concept \u2014 it is a present opportunity. This next phase is about scale, depth and measurable impact. We are committing to directly train 10,000 participants in Phase 2, with deliberate focus on youth, women, developers and decision makers who will drive AI adoption across sectors. The Career Fair ensures this initiative goes beyond training, creating direct pathways from learning to livelihood. We are not simply delivering programmes; we are strengthening Nigeria\u2019s capacity to compete in an AI-powered global economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ola Williams, Chief Growth and AI Officer, Microsoft Middle East and Africa, said: \u201cAfrica has an incredible opportunity to become not only a participant but a builder and co-creator in the global AI economy, but much of this promise depends on building the right skills for this exciting new era. Microsoft\u2019s AI Skilling Initiative plays a critical role in enabling Nigeria\u2019s national digital skilling efforts. Already we have seen wonderful innovation and globally relevant local solutions coming from the talent here in Nigeria. By deepening AI skills and diffusing AI adoption throughout the economy, Nigeria and the African continent stand to benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globally, AI is projected to contribute trillions of dollars to the world economy over the coming decade. For Nigeria, with a population exceeding 200 million and one of the youngest workforces globally, AI capability development represents a strategic economic lever. Expanding practical AI skills at scale strengthens employability, drives innovation and accelerates digital prosperity across sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aileen Allkins, CEO & President, TeKnowledge, said: \u201cAround the world, nations that invest in AI literacy and responsible adoption today will define tomorrow\u2019s economic leadership. Nigeria has the talent, the ambition and the entrepreneurial energy to lead in Africa\u2019s AI transformation. Our focus is to combine global expertise with strong local execution, ensuring AI skills are accessible, inclusive and impactful at scale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through this partnership, TeKnowledge continues to deepen its engagement in Nigeria\u2019s digital future by positioning inclusive AI capability as a cornerstone of long-term economic competitiveness and sustainable economic growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Expanded collaboration will support large-scale AI capability development across Nigeria, strengthening workforce readiness and accelerating inclusive Artificial Intelligence adoption. TeKnowledge, a global expert technology services company specialising in helping organisations become AI First, has announced an expanded role as an implementation and delivery partner for Phase 2 of Microsoft\u2019s AI National Skilling Initiative in Nigeria. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":79977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16131,367,183,13,9060],"tags":[19327,19946,386,176,685,19948,19947,18257],"class_list":["post-79976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-education","category-software","category-top-stories","category-west-africa","tag-ai-skills","tag-aileen-allkins","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-microsoft","tag-nigeria","tag-ola-williams","tag-olugbolahan-olusanya","tag-teknowledge"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79976"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79978,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79976\/revisions\/79978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}