The AI talks were part of preparations for GITEX Nigeria 2025.

Plateau State officials have joined other stakeholders across Africa in discussions on developing shared infrastructure for Artificial Intelligence (AI), as part of preparations for GITEX Nigeria 2025.

The state was represented at the recent Leadership Summit on Shared Infrastructure for AI, Africa by the Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation, Cletus Bako, and the Director-General of the Plateau State Information and Communication Technology Development Agency (PICTDA), Dominic Gwamna.

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The summit, convened by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), comes ahead of GITEX Nigeria scheduled to take place in Abuja and Lagos between 1 and 4 September.

In his keynote, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, said AI represents a turning point for the continent, warning that Africa risks being left behind if it fails to invest in governance structures, infrastructure, and human capital.

He identified four priority areas for Africa's AI future: safeguarding sovereignty while promoting shared governance, building the technical skills of young Africans, creating homegrown datasets, and expanding infrastructure, computing power and access to clean energy.

Mr Tijani also pointed to the government's 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme as a model for equipping young people with skills needed to drive AI adoption and innovation.

Plateau State officials said their participation aligns with efforts to expand digital opportunities for young people in the state.