The United Arab Emirates aims to become an AI-native government by 2027, offering Nigeria valuable lessons in digital infrastructure, data integration and translating artificial intelligence policies into practical public services, JUSTICE OKAMGBA reports

Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital, is pursuing a government model in which artificial intelligence goes beyond answering queries and automating routine duties to integrate public services, interpret legislation and enable AI agents to conduct transactions on behalf of residents.

The target offers Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, a potential blueprint as it pursues its own artificial intelligence strategy, expands digital infrastructure, and seeks to strengthen its position in the global digital economy.

In the oil-rich Arabian nation, the focus is on changing how government operates rather than simply introducing AI tools into existing bureaucratic processes.

Director-General of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Government Enablement, Wesam Lootah, explained that the emirate’s goal to become an AI-native government by 2027 required a fundamental redesign of public administration around citizens, residents and businesses.

“It’s not just like sprinkling AI use cases around an existing process. It’s really about rethinking how the government operates from the ground up,” Lootah told participants at the just concluded AI summit in Abu Dhabi.

The distinction is important for Nigeria, where government agencies led by Dr Bosun Tijani have introduced digital platforms and developed policies on AI adoption, cloud infrastructure and digital public services. The challenge is whether these initiatives can work together to make government transactions simpler, faster and more reliable.

Tijani had proposed a single digital platform for Nigerians to access government services, initially under the name OneGOV. The idea was part of his ministry’s digital transformation agenda, announced in 2023, to make government services accessible through one online gateway rather than forcing citizens to navigate separate websites and agencies.

Lootah outlined three layers underpinning Abu Dhabi’s approach, beginning with the interaction between residents and government through TAMM, the emirate’s unified digital services platform.

The second layer involves coordinating services across government institutions, while the third covers internal functions such as human resources, procurement, finance and marketing.

Abu Dhabi intends to use AI to automate 80 per cent of services in the third category, allowing public servants to concentrate on decision-making and service improvement, Lootah disclosed. The figure represents a target rather than a confirmed level of automation already achieved.

TAMM is Abu Dhabi’s unified digital government platform, bringing services from multiple public agencies and private-sector providers together through one website and mobile app. TAMM offers over 1,100 public and private sector services.

Chief Executive Officer of Presight, Thomas Pramotedham, argued that the effectiveness of the platform depended less on the number of AI agents deployed than on the infrastructure enabling them to work across government.

Presight is an Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence and big data analytics company majority-owned by G42.

“It’s not about how many agents we create, but the underlying interlocking foundation data and understanding of how the services will be consumed by the citizens; that is key to it,” Pramotedham explained.

He noted that legacy systems, separate datasets and services operating in different environments had to be brought together to create a seamless experience for users.

The underlying integration, he added, was largely invisible to residents, even though it determined whether services could communicate and function as a connected system.

Infrastructure before automation

The emphasis on integration was reinforced during a discussion on digital public infrastructure involving government and technology leaders from the United Arab Emirates and Italy.

Director-General of TAMM, Mohamed Al Askar, described digital public infrastructure as the foundation supporting AI-powered public services, including connectivity, data centres, computing capacity, digital identity, payments, skilled personnel and regulation.

He disclosed that the oil capital had invested heavily in digital infrastructure over approximately 15 years before the current AI boom, giving the government a foundation on which to develop more advanced services.

Al Askar reported customer satisfaction of 94.5 per cent, while 95 per cent of customer inquiries were being handled by AI. He also reported that about 70 per cent of transactions that did not require back-end intervention were completed end-to-end.

The figures were presented by Al Askar at the summit and were not independently audited by The PUNCH for this report.

The lesson for Nigeria is that AI adoption in government requires more than a chatbot or a standalone application. Systems must be able to exchange reliable information, authenticate users, process payments where necessary, and complete transactions across institutional boundaries.

Nigeria is building digital infrastructure, but the work is at different stages, from policy development and financing to physical deployment and digital-service integration.

Director-General of Italy’s Agency for Digital Italy, Mario Nobile, similarly urged governments to prioritise digital public infrastructure and ensure that AI agents operate within trustworthy systems.

His recommendation was that governments should verify the reliability of agents, establish how they use people’s identities and data, and ensure users understand when automated systems are acting on their behalf.

That concern is particularly relevant as AI systems move from generating information to performing tasks that can affect citizens’ access to public services.

Director-General of Digital Ajman, Ohood Al Shuhail, also cautioned against adopting AI simply because the technology was available, arguing that governments needed to identify where it would provide genuine value and consider whether users were ready for automated services.

Nigeria’s digital ambitions

Nigeria is building on existing foundations. The Federal Government has developed a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, established a presidential committee on digital public infrastructure, and introduced a National Digital Cloud Policy aimed at expanding the country’s computing and data infrastructure.

The National AI Strategy identifies foundational infrastructure, ecosystem development, adoption across sectors, responsible AI, and governance as five priorities.

In May 2025, the government inaugurated a Presidential Committee on the Implementation of Digital Public Infrastructure, with a mandate to coordinate three core components—digital identity, financial payments, and data exchange.

These components mirror some of the foundations highlighted by officials in Abu Dhabi. A digital identity system can establish who is requesting a service, interoperable payment systems can facilitate transactions, and secure data exchange can help agencies retrieve information without repeatedly asking citizens to supply the same details.

However, establishing these components separately does not automatically make them interoperable. Their value depends on common standards, reliable data, clear institutional responsibilities, and the ability of agencies to exchange information securely.

Nigeria’s National Digital Cloud Policy, unveiled in August 2026, is another part of that effort. The government is targeting $250m in private investment in cloud and data infrastructure within 12 months and $750m within 24 months, as it seeks to position Nigeria as a regional hub for cloud computing, data hosting and digital services. These are policy targets, not investments already secured.

The policy also seeks to expand cloud adoption across federal ministries, departments, and agencies while addressing digital sovereignty and security.

Connectivity remains another major requirement. Under Project BRIDGE, the government plans to deploy 90,000 kilometres of additional fibre-optic infrastructure to expand broadband access nationwide. The African Development Bank approved a $200m loan for the project in April 2026, adding to other financing commitments. The planned network has not yet been fully deployed.

The scale of these initiatives reflects the infrastructure required to support digital public services, cloud computing and AI applications across a country as large as Nigeria.

But policy announcements and financing commitments are only part of the process. The eventual impact will depend on whether infrastructure is delivered, public institutions adopt interoperable systems, and citizens can access the resulting services affordably and reliably.

Trust, sovereignty, capability

Abu Dhabi’s approach also raises questions about who controls the technology and data behind public services.

Pramotedham explained that the UAE required data processing, storage and transfers to comply with its national framework, with access controlled under applicable data-protection rules. He stressed, however, that sovereignty did not mean excluding international technology companies.

The UAE works with global and local partners, including Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Presight and G42, while seeking to maintain control over how its systems operate.

Pramotedham also highlighted investments in homegrown AI models, including K2 Horizon, Falcon and Jais, as part of efforts to build domestic technological capabilities. He reported that Microsoft Copilot had been deployed to more than 35,000 government employees under arrangements intended to preserve data and operational sovereignty.

For Nigeria, the issue is not simply whether public agencies use locally hosted or foreign AI systems. It is also whether government institutions possess the skills and oversight mechanisms to assess their reliability, protect sensitive information, and maintain essential services if a technology provider or system becomes unavailable.

Advisor to the UAE President for Strategic Research and Advanced Technology Affairs, Faisal Al Bannai, argued that technological sovereignty required more than owning intellectual property.

“Being sovereign is not necessarily only about owning the IP and owning the economics of the IP,” Al Bannai explained.

He maintained that countries needed the ability to understand, modify, test, and evolve the technology they deployed. He also advocated independent assessments and stronger checks for AI systems used in critical applications, rather than allowing developers to determine their own safety standards without external scrutiny.

The argument points to a broader requirement for Nigeria to develop local expertise in AI research, system evaluation and governance alongside the adoption of commercially available tools.

Policies into services

Nigeria’s emerging digital infrastructure plans could provide a foundation for more integrated government services, but implementation will determine whether the benefits reach citizens.

Project BRIDGE could improve the connectivity needed to access online services, while cloud infrastructure could support data processing and digital platforms. Digital identity and payment systems could help government agencies verify users and complete transactions across institutions.

Experts say these investments will need to be accompanied by interoperable data systems, updated administrative processes, cybersecurity safeguards and clear accountability when automated decisions go wrong.

The UAE experience also suggests that AI should not be imposed on every service. Some transactions may require straightforward digitisation, while others could benefit from automation or AI agents. Governments must identify the appropriate technology for each task and preserve alternatives for people who cannot or do not wish to use automated channels.

QUOTE

“It’s not about how many agents we create, but the underlying interlocking foundation data and understanding of how the services will be consumed by the citizens; that is key to it,”