KEYNOTE SPEECH BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE NIGERIA EXCHANGE GROUP AT THE INNOVATE A I CONFERENCE AT LANDMARK CENTRE VI LAGOS ON FRIDAY 20th FEBRUARY 2026.
It gives me great pleasure to participate in the InnovateAI Conference Lagos 2026. I am happy to see so many young Nigerians present who are ready and able to take Nigeria to its rightful place in the forefront of the next technological revolution.
Artificial Intelligence AI has moved from experimentation to integration. It is embedded in financial services, capital allocation, risk modelling, surveillance systems, and customer engagement platforms. For Africa, it represents a significant economic opportunity and a powerful tool for accelerating growth. However, history has shown that innovation without governance can introduce vulnerabilities. As adoption deepens, the conversation must evolve from excitement about possibility to discipline around accountability.
Artificial Intelligence is no longer a distant concept reserved for Silicon Valley. It is already embedded in Nigeria’s financial services, telecoms, media, agriculture, health systems and public administration.
The real question before us is not whether Nigeria will adopt AI. That decision has already been made by market forces. The real question is whether we will adopt it responsibly.
Responsible AI is not an abstract ethical conversation. It is an economic imperative.
Across the world, capital flows toward markets that demonstrate predictability, governance, and trust. Investors price risk. If AI systems are opaque, discriminatory, poorly governed, or vulnerable to data breaches, that risk is priced into companies, sectors, and ultimately into the country itself.
For a country like Nigeria, with a young population, a fast-growing digital economy, and deep entrepreneurial energy, AI represents an extraordinary opportunity.
In the Capital Markets, where I operate, trust is the oxygen of the system. Every trade, every listing, every investment decision rests on confidence in the integrity of the market. As AI tools become embedded in trading strategies, surveillance systems, credit scoring models, and investor analytics, we must ensure that the algorithms driving financial decisions are explainable, fair, and subject to oversight.
At Nigerian Exchange Group, our responsibility is to safeguard market integrity while enabling innovation. Capital markets operate on confidence. Confidence is built on transparency, fairness, and credible oversight.
Therefore, Responsible AI in Nigeria must therefore be context-aware. It must support financial inclusion, improve public service delivery, strengthen agricultural productivity, enhance healthcare diagnostics, and optimise energy distribution. It must solve Nigerian problems.
As we look ahead to what many are calling Africa’s AI decade, Nigeria must anchor its strategy on three pillars: TRUST; TALENT AND TRANSPARENCY.
If we get this right, AI will not simply automate processes. It will accelerate productivity, deepen inclusion, strengthen institutions, and position Nigeria as a credible digital economy.
The future is not just about building intelligent machines. It is about building intelligent systems of governance around those machines-that is the responsibility before us.
I wish you all productive and impactful deliberations and I look forward to the insights and partnerships that will emerge from this conference.
Thank you.
Alhaji (Dr) Umaru Kwairanga
Chairman NGX Group
