NITDA National AI Innovation Challenge 2026
About this opportunity
A competition for young Nigerian developers to deepen AI technical skills, adoption, and innovation. Applications open until 12 October 2026.
The National AI Innovation Challenge (NAIC) 2026, organised by Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in collaboration with National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), invites Nigerian teams to develop developer tools, voice-first applications, or sector-specific fine-tuned AI solutions using N-ATLAS, Nigeria’s open-source multilingual large language model. The challenge aims to deepen AI adoption by integrating N-ATLAS into practical, real-world applications across sectors like health, agriculture, education, and financial inclusion. Teams must submit a working solution directly integrated with N-ATLAS, with a deadline of 12 October 2026.
Key details
NigeriaWhat you get
- Competitive recognition and potential funding for top submissions (amount not specified)
- Exposure to Nigeria’s sovereign AI infrastructure and ecosystem
- Collaboration opportunities with NITDA/NCAIR and industry partners
Documents needed
- Working technical artefact (repository, deployed app, published model, live API, or dataset)
- Documentation proving N-ATLAS integration
- Evidence of real-world validation (user testing, real data, live benchmarks)
- Technical documentation (architecture, setup, usage)
- 3–5 minute video demonstration of the solution
- Team profile (names, affiliations, roles)
- Institutional endorsement letter (academia) or CAC certificate (enterprise)
How to apply
- Submit a **build-only** proposal with a **working technical artefact** integrated with N-ATLAS
- Provide evidence of integration, real-world validation, and technical documentation
- Include a video demonstration and team profiles
- Gather required endorsements (e.g., university letter or CAC certificate)
- Submit all materials via the official application portal by the deadline
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