UNILAG, OpenAI Launch Africa’s First AI Academy — A New Dawn For Inclusive Innovation
By TOSI ORE
IN a groundbreaking move set to redefine Africa’s technological future, the University of Lagos (UNILAG) has partnered with OpenAI to establish the continent’s first OpenAI Academy — a bold leap toward democratising artificial intelligence education and innovation across Africa.
The announcement, made by Emmanuel Lubanzadio, OpenAI’s Africa Lead, during UNILAG’s 2025 International Week themed “Equitable Partnerships and the Future of AI in Africa,” signals a strategic shift in global tech collaboration — one that places African institutions at the heart of the AI revolution.
Lubanzadio described the initiative as a bridge between access and opportunity. The academy, launching officially this week, will provide free AI learning resources, research support, and skill development programmes to students, scholars, and professionals worldwide, beginning in Lagos.
“Africa deserves not just to use AI but to shape it,” Lubanzadio said. “UNILAG’s leadership in innovation makes it the ideal home for the first OpenAI Academy on the continent.”
Beyond Technology: Building Equitable Partnerships
UNILAG’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, framed the collaboration as more than a technological milestone — it is a statement of intent.
“Artificial Intelligence is not the future; it is the present,” she declared. “For Africa, it represents the power to leapfrog structural limitations and reimagine education, health, and governance.”
Ogunsola emphasised that true progress would come not from dependency but from equitable partnerships — collaborations rooted in shared vision, not charity. She cited the university’s ongoing innovation programmes, including AI solutions tailored to communities with unreliable power and internet connectivity.
Over the past three years, UNILAG has attracted over $28 million in research funding, much of it directed toward technology and sustainability projects. The OpenAI Academy, she said, will build on this foundation by expanding contextual AI research that reflects African realities and priorities.
Government Endorsement: Aligning with a National AI Vision
Representing the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, the Director of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), Olubunmi Ajala, lauded the initiative as a reflection of Nigeria’s digital ambition.
Tijani reaffirmed the government’s commitment to AI inclusion, highlighting the National AI Strategy (2024) and the Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme — both designed to create a digitally skilled workforce.
“We’re building one of the most inclusive, human-centred AI frameworks in the world,” he said. “This partnership shows what’s possible when government provides vision, the private sector provides support, and young Nigerians provide innovation.”
He also referenced Nigeria’s multimodal language model, the first government-backed AI model in Africa, as evidence of the nation’s growing leadership in the space.
Private Sector Optimism: Africa’s Time to Lead
Yvonne Ike, Managing Director and Head of Sub-Saharan Africa (ex-RSA) at Bank of America, delivered a stirring challenge to the audience: Africa must not wait for permission to lead.
“The first OpenAI Academy in Africa being launched at UNILAG is no coincidence,” she said. “This is Africa’s chance to redefine its place in the world — through innovation, through bold thinking, through collaboration.”
She urged African universities and industries to invest in preparing young people for a future defined by automation, creativity, and data-driven problem-solving.
Celebrating Homegrown Innovation
The ceremony culminated in the Innovation Challenge Awards, celebrating student teams whose AI projects tackle real-world problems — from rural healthcare tools that function offline to machine learning systems addressing maternal health in remote areas.
Prof. Ogunsola noted that such solutions prove that African innovation is not imitation.
“These are technologies the world can learn from,” she said. “This is what happens when local insight meets global collaboration.”
The Bigger Picture
The establishment of the OpenAI Academy at UNILAG is more than a partnership — it is a declaration of readiness. Africa is not just consuming technology; it is building it, teaching it, and reshaping its moral and cultural frameworks.
By embedding AI education within the continent’s academic and developmental systems, the initiative offers a pathway to inclusive growth — where talent, not geography, defines opportunity.
As the workshops, exhibitions, and training sessions continue through the week, one truth stands clear:
The age of African AI has begun — and Lagos is leading the charge.
