The chief executive officer of Digital Equity Africa, Mrs. Justina Nnam Oha, has assured that her organisation was raising and mentoring the next generation of global artificial intelligencence innovators in the country.
In a statement she signed recently in Lagos, she referenced the overwhelming success of the inaugural Kids Tech Fest — a global AI summit for children — held at the famous Landmark Eve Centre.
According to her, everyone was left in awe and overflowing with gratitude, noting that what was planned as a bold move in children’s digital empowerment became a historic moment in Africa’s tech story, with over 5,000 attendees showing up in full force.
Nnam Oha added that she and her team are working hard to scale up infrastructure and programming to match the movement.
She said, “The vision for us is to raise the next generation of global AI innovators in Nigeria. The Landmark Event Centre at Victoria Island, Lagos, overflowed with excited children, parents, and educators, creating a beautiful storm of learning, laughter, and inspiration.
“The overwhelming energy told a big story: Africa is ready to raise a generation that thrives in the age of Artificial Intelligence.
“At the conference, there were breakout sessions for parents and educators, and others for children, where they were grouped according to their age for an immersive experience.
“The children were not only taught the workings of AI, but topics like plagiarism, cyberbullying, and ethical AI were also major focuses. Parents were enlightened on safeguarding children in the digital age and why digital literacy is a must for their children.
“Beyond the conversations, there were two main highlights. The first was the launch of Bud AI — a safe learning companion for children aged 6–17 — providing the right guardrails, including a child registration process that involves a parent’s email and regular insights and feedback to the parent on the child’s learning and activity on the app.
“The second highlight was the launch of Future Minds Online — an AI learning community for children aged 6–16, where they can learn to support their education, creativity, and entertainment using safe AI tools.”
