Nigerian developers, startups, and university research teams can apply for the 2026 National AI Innovation Challenge (NAIC), a Federal Government programme supporting practical applications built with Nigeria’s multilingual artificial intelligence model. The challenge is implemented by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy through the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI) and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), in partnership with Awarri Technologies.
Applications opened on 22 September and close on 12 October 2026 at 11:59 p.m. WAT. Applicants must submit a working technical solution. Pitch decks, proposals, and mock-ups without a functional build will not qualify.
What Is the Challenge About?
The programme centres on N-ATLAS (Nigerian Atlas for Languages and AI at Scale), an open-source AI model supporting Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, and Nigerian-accented English. It also supports automatic speech recognition for voice-based applications.
Applicants must build solutions around one of three problem statements:
- Developer Infrastructure: Tools such as software development kits, testing platforms, and fine-tuning resources that make N-ATLAS easier to use.
- Voice-First Access: Voice-based services for areas such as education, agriculture, healthcare, civic information, and financial literacy.
- Sectoral Fine-Tuning: Adapt N-ATLAS to a specific sector and demonstrate measurable improvement over the original model.
Every submission must integrate directly with N-ATLAS.
Who Can Apply?
The challenge has two participation tracks:
Academia and Research
- University-based research teams, academic AI laboratories, postgraduate researchers, and faculty.
- Teams must include at least one enrolled student or postgraduate researcher.
- A faculty supervisor and institutional endorsement letter are required.
Innovation and Enterprise
- Registered startups, technology companies, social enterprises, independent developers, and innovation hubs.
- Individual applicants must be Nigerian citizens aged 18 or older.
- Companies must have CAC registration.
- Diaspora teams must have at least 50% of their members based in Nigeria.
Across both tracks, submissions must be original, written in English, and not previously selected as winners in another competition. Each team can apply under only one problem statement.
The official page contains differing team-size information. Applicants should confirm the applicable limit with the secretariat.
What Must Applicants Submit?
A functional product is compulsory. Applications must include:
- Working solution: A repository, deployed application, live API, published model, or dataset.
- Integration evidence: Documentation showing how the solution uses N-ATLAS.
- User or technical validation: Evidence from real users, data, or benchmarks.
- Technical documentation: System architecture, setup, and usage information.
- Video demonstration: A three-to-five-minute video showing the solution working.
- Team details: Names, affiliations, and roles.
- Supporting documents: Institutional endorsement for academic teams, or CAC certificate and valid identification for enterprise applicants.
Validation requirements differ by problem statement:
- Developer Infrastructure: At least two external beta testers.
- Voice-First Access: At least 50 documented real-user interactions.
- Sectoral Fine-Tuning: A benchmark of at least 500 examples against the base model.
What Applicants Stand to Gain
The challenge offers more than recognition. Participants can access:
- N-ATLAS API credentials and compute credits.
- Technical mentorship, onboarding, and development support.
- Technical clinics, office hours, and reference materials.
- Invitations to the Nigeria AI Innovators Summit.
- Inclusion in the NITDA AI talent registry.
- Priority consideration for government AI pilot opportunities.
Winners may also receive research partnerships and publication support through the academic track, or incubation, investor introductions, and government procurement pathway reviews through the enterprise track.
The programme does not specify a cash prize or guaranteed grant. Its published benefits focus on technical development, mentorship, recognition, and opportunities to take solutions towards wider adoption.
What Happens After Applying?
Submissions will undergo administrative screening and technical verification. The published schedule includes:
- 12 October: Application deadline.
- 15–17 October: N-ATLAS integration verification.
- 16–20 October: Shortlisting notifications.
- 25 October–4 November: Mentorship and acceleration.
- 8–10 November: Digital Nigeria Showcase.
Assessment will consider technical quality, N-ATLAS integration, real-world validation, impact, scalability, sustainability, and team capability.
How to Apply
Interested applicants should review the problem statements and prepare their working solutions before submitting.
For enquiries, contact naic@nitda.gov.ng.
Applications close on 12 October 2026 at 11:59 p.m. WAT. Applicants should leave enough time to build, test, document, and demonstrate their solutions.
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