Nigeria has unveiled a new AI-powered chatbot intended to help citizens find government information and access public services, marking one of the country’s most significant AI initiatives in the public sector to date.
In collaboration with the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy (FMCIDE), and the regional AI firm Publica AI, Meta created the chatbot known as GovGuide Nigeria.
The platform, which was unveiled during Meta’s Economic Impact report launch in Nigeria, employs Meta’s open-source Llama AI models to deliver government service information via an online multilingual speech and text interface.
The announcement also highlights Meta’s larger initiative to spread its open-source AI models throughout developing economies, especially in Africa.
More than 50 African languages are currently supported with its No Language Left Behind (NLLB-200) model—roughly twice the coverage provided by the majority of conventional translation systems.
In an effort to improve public information accessibility for low-literate groups, rural communities and citizens navigating Nigeria’s disjointed public service systems, GovGuide supports English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
However, low smartphone usage and low broadband penetration in rural areas may hinder uptake.
”The GovGuide initiative reflects our commitment to leveraging artificial intelligence to make government services and information more accessible and responsive to the needs of Nigerians,” stated Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.
The event takes place over a year after Meta was fined $32.8 million by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission for alleged violations of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, including illegal data transfers and a lack of user consent.
According to later reports, Meta promised to pay legal fees and fund privacy awareness campaigns in exchange for the sentence being waived.
