How AI Can Help Nigeria and Other Developing Countries Grow Quickly

Artificial intelligence (AI) can help countries like Nigeria achieve in ten years what would normally take a hundred years, according to a new report from the World Bank.

The World Bank says that governments need to act fast to fix problems with electricity, internet access, skills, and the quality of institutions to avoid being left behind.

This information comes from the World Bank's latest World Development Report 2026, called ‘The Promise of Artificial Intelligence’. The report looked at how businesses in developing countries are using AI, studying 777 firms in Nigeria.

The World Bank encourages developing countries to have a positive outlook, saying that AI can help governments reach billions of people who lack access to medical, legal, educational, and agricultural services more efficiently.

“AI could help extend otherwise costly medical, legal, educational, and agricultural services to the underserved billions, doing in a decade what might otherwise take a century,” the report mentioned.

It pointed out that jobs in rich countries are more than three times more likely to be at risk from automation by AI compared to those in low- and middle-income countries. In low-income areas, 4.5 percent of jobs are at risk, while 14.2 percent of jobs are at risk in high-income countries.

At the same time, 16.2 percent of jobs in developing countries could see a big boost in productivity from AI, which is close to the 18.7 percent expected in wealthier nations. The report indicates that the best chance for developing countries is not just to replace workers but to enhance their abilities.

“AI has thrown developing economies a lifeline, and they should seize it,” said Indermit Gill, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank Group.

He added that developing countries do not need complex systems or large data centers to benefit from AI. By using small, affordable AI tools that fit local needs, they can provide better healthcare, education, judicial services, and farming assistance to millions.

This report is the first detailed look at how AI impacts developing nations, showing how businesses and governments are starting to use AI. It revealed that AI is already helping people, companies, and governments solve problems, analyze information, make better predictions, and deliver services on a larger scale.

These abilities are especially important in places where there aren’t enough trained professionals, reliable records, and public resources. The World Bank says AI tools can help doctors diagnose patients better, assist farmers in making smarter crop choices, and help businesses improve productivity.

Governments can also use AI to enhance tax collection, social programs, disaster response, healthcare, and education, the report added. The World Bank believes that AI can help improve the slow economic growth in developing countries before the end of the 2020s while providing real benefits to people.

But the report also warns that the opportunity to use AI is limited. Many developing countries still lack the electricity, internet, data, skills, and institutions needed to use AI effectively.

Without careful planning, AI could increase gaps between nations, boost inequality within them, concentrate market power, weaken trust in public institutions, and introduce new risks to safety and social harmony.

The report lays out a clear three-step plan: use available tools, adapt them to local situations, and slowly move towards advanced AI development.