Applications are now open for the National AI Innovation Challenge (NAIC) 2026, a national “build-only” programme designed to deepen the technical development, adoption, and practical use of Nigeria’s sovereign Artificial Intelligence through N-ATLAS.
The programme provides technical support, acceleration, and direct access to government and ecosystem opportunities to help builders, researchers, and startups deploy real-world AI solutions.
The initiative targets Nigerian talent building tools, voice-first applications, and sector-specific adaptations on Nigeria’s first open-source, multilingual large language model.
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Programme Support
Selected teams will receive structured support at every stage, aimed at strengthening their builds and scaling their solutions.
Acceleration & Mentorship: Participants will receive technical mentorship, N-ATLAS onboarding support, API credentials, and compute credits through partner infrastructure.
Ecosystem Integration: Founders and researchers will gain inclusion in the NITDA AI talent registry or National AI startup directory, and priority consideration for government AI pilots.
Network & Incubation Access: The programme provides curated access to investor introductions, ONDI incubation support, and NCAIR research-lab partnerships.
Problem Statements & Focus Sectors
The programme is open to innovators building under three key problem statements (Developer Infrastructure, Voice-First Access, and Sectoral Fine-Tuning). Target domains for these solutions include:
- Education and Learning
- Primary Healthcare
- Smallholder Agriculture
- Legal Rights and Civic Literacy
- Basic Financial Literacy
Eligibility
Applicants should meet the following criteria under either the Academia & Research or Innovation & Enterprise tracks:
- All team members must be Nigerian citizens or registered Nigerian entities.
- The submission must include a working technical build (no concept-only proposals) with genuine N-ATLAS integration.
- The project must demonstrate real-world validation (evidence of testing with actual users, real data, or live benchmarks).
- Teams must comprise 2–5 members (for diaspora teams, at least 50% of the members must be based in Nigeria).
Programme Timeline
ApplicatioOpens: Sept 22, 2026
Application Deadline: Oct 12, 2026
How to Apply
Interested academic researchers, startups, and developers building with N-ATLAS can visit the official NAIC website to apply before the October 12, 2026 deadline.