Policy Brief & Alerts

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as one of the most transformative technologies of the 21st century, with the potential to unlock trillions of dollars in economic value globally. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), AI could contribute up to USD 15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, with USD 6.6 trillion coming from productivity improvements and USD 9.11 trillion from increased consumer demand. While the surge in AI adoption is most visible in advanced economies, the ripple effects are reaching emerging markets, where AI offers both opportunities and significant challenges.

Despite the policy of free and compulsory primary education, Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children in the world, with an estimated 10.5 million of the country’s children, aged 5 to 14, not currently enrolled. This figure accounts for about 15 percent of the global out-of school population. The scale of exclusion highlights the fragile state of Nigeria’s education system and points to a deep, persistent crisis in access to basic learning opportunities. Yet as daunting as this reality is, it is being quietly and rapidly intensified by another force: climate change. Across the globe, climate hazards disrupted learning for at least 242 million children in 2024 alone, according to UNICEF. In Sub-Saharan Africa (Fig. 1), Nigeria was among the most affected, with over 2.2 million children facing school interruptions due to floods, a major extreme weather event battering infrastructure, displacing families, and derailing education systems.

Effectiveness of Accelerated Education and Girls-Focused Education Innovations in Nigeria

Education is critical to individual and societal advancement, yet it faces severe challenges in West Africa, particularly in Northern Nigeria due to conflict and violence. A significant impact of these disruptions is the growth in the numbers of Out-of-School Children and Youth (OOSCY), driven by complex and multiple reasons including ethnic and religious divides. Young women and girls’ life trajectories are particularly affected, resulting in unequal access to education, work, and participation in society. These inequalities are further worsened by internal migration and displacement, which results in deepened vulnerability such as intergenerational poverty and teenage motherhood (Hanmer et al., 2024). Insurgency and terrorism in Nigeria, with the insecurity and fear it engenders, has left approximately 19.7 million children out of school, disproportionately affecting girls from impoverished and rural backgrounds (Oyekan et al., 2023). These conditions highlight the challenge of maintaining formal education institutions and ensuring the safety of learners and teachers in Fragile, Conflict and Violence (FCV) affected areas.

The global trade ecosystem is undergoing a profound transformation characterised by rising protectionism, disruption, and strategic realignment of global supply chains, as well as the weakening of multilateral institutions. Central to this policy shift is the resurgence of the United States “America First” trade policy advanced by the current U.S. administration. The April 2nd announcement by President Donald Trump saw every single country assigned a new, higher tariff rate, as every product imported into the U.S. will be charged an extra 10% tariff. While most of the U.S. trading partners will pay 10% tariffs, most countries were assigned even higher “reciprocal” rates. However, a dramatic change of policy occurred when the U.S. administration announced that countries that had not retaliated against the tariff would receive a reprieve and only face a blanket U.S. tariff of 10% until July 2025. These measures intensify Trump’s “America First” trade policy and signal a decisive shift toward deeper protectionism, reshoring, and economic nationalism

Data governance refers to the technical, policy and regulatory frameworks designed for the management, processing, and security of data in the digital ecosystem. With effective data governance in place, data availability, reliability, and consistency are guaranteed. Given its potential as the resource that drives global digitalisation and economic development, data is figuratively described as “the new oil”, which must be strategically commoditised for value to be derived from it. The commoditisation of data necessitates a reliable data governance to make it retain its value as an invaluable asset, enabling it to drive innovation, boost economic growth, and foster societal development. In addition, effective data governance mechanisms are expected to integrate safeguards against data-related harms/threats that may result from the usage and processing of data.