NiMet Inaugurates AI Research Team To Improve Weather Forecasting

The director-general/chief executive of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Prof. Charles Anosike, has inaugurated the NiMet Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research and Integration Team as part of the agency’s drive to strengthen innovation, digital transformation and service delivery in meteorological and climate services.

The inauguration underscored NiMet’s commitment to complement decades of physics-based forecasting with emerging AI-driven approaches, in line with the federal government’s digital transformation agenda and the ongoing moderniszation of meteorological services in Nigeria.

The newly constituted technical team is tasked with identifying opportunities, standards, and best practices for the application of artificial intelligence in meteorology, and with driving the integration of AI-based tools into NiMet’s operational forecasting systems. The initiative is expected to enhance the speed, accuracy, and accessibility of weather predictions through hybrid AI–traditional forecasting models.

Speaking on the initiative, Prof. Anosike emphasised that building internal AI capacity was critical to sustaining NiMet’s leadership in technological innovation among government agencies, while ensuring that emerging technologies are responsibly deployed to support aviation safety, agriculture, disaster risk reduction, and national development.

Members of the AI Research and Integration Team were drawn from across the agency’s units, reflecting a multidisciplinary approach to innovation.

The inauguration marks another milestone in NiMet’s ongoing efforts to leverage digital technologies and research-driven solutions to deliver world-class meteorological services in Nigeria.