Driven by the urgent need to equip communities with innovative tools to empower communities for more equitable development, Dr. Ugochukwu Ikpeazu shares his insights with on how Nigeria can harness technology and innovation to drive meaningful social development.

My name is Ugochukwu Ikpeazu, and thank you for this opportunity to discuss the exciting opportunities for technology-enabled social development in Nigeria. I started by studying International Relations because I was deeply interested in contributing to social development, not necessarily through politics, but more through diplomacy and entrepreneurship.
As my understanding evolved, I pursued an MBA in Leadership because I began to recognise the pivotal role that effective leadership would inevitably play in driving meaningful, sustainable development initiatives. To further sharpen those foundational skills and interests, I then undertook an MSc in International Management. Over time, I also got qualifications in software development, as well as completing my Doctorate in Business Administration.
Now, by the time I embarked on my doctoral studies, I had a much clearer vision of what I wanted to achieve: leveraging technology and technological innovation to tangibly support social development. In simpler terms, my passion lies in creating practical technology tools, solutions and partnerships that can genuinely improve the way people live their lives and ultimately provide a better chance at a healthy and productive existence.
Following that initial academic journey, I took a significant step into the practical application of my interests by publishing my first book, “Philosophy of Digital Currencies: A Theory of Monetising Time.” This work delved into the philosophy of digital currencies, which allowed me to intensely focus on the transformative role that technology, specifically tools like digital currencies and other innovative FinTech tools, could potentially have in empowering communities.
I’m particularly pleased with this work because it wasn’t purely theoretical. We conducted on-the-ground research within communities, directly asking people whether they would be comfortable exchanging value without the physical exchange of cash.
There’s often a misconception, especially when considering individuals in low-income communities, that their sole focus is on acquiring cash as quickly as possible. However, our research revealed a more nuanced perspective. We found that many people were indeed open to the idea that the very definition of value is not necessarily linked to cash, and some people were interested in exchanging cash, exchanging value without necessarily seeing the hard cash.
And I was excited about that, because it showed that if we redefine the way we approach social and economic value, we can potentially design new tools, new digital currencies, new financial mechanisms that empower people in these types of communities to live a better and more fulfilling life.
I was particularly encouraged by the insightful reviews the book received from several distinguished figures, including Her Excellency Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, the Former President of Mauritius; the Former Prime Minister of Portugal; and José Manuel Barroso, the former President of the EU Commission; as well as Raghunath Mandava, the Independent Consultant and Former CEO of Airtel Africa. Their positive reception truly validated the central thesis of “Philosophy of Digital Currencies: A Theory of Monetising Time,” emphasising the critical need to strategically leverage available technology tools to tangibly improve people’s lives. I am happy because they all echoed the same idea that I had, that we should leverage the technological tools at our disposal to genuinely try to improve people’s lives.
Now, building on that foundation, I have had the opportunity to work, thankfully, as a lecturer at the EU Business School in Switzerland, again, teaching on technology and trying to bridge or strengthen that link between academia and practice, between business and social impact. I also had the opportunity to work in civil society, serving as president and vice president of a think tank in Geneva, and also undertaking extensive work with international organisations in the health sector. But right now, my focus is on building a more dedicated team that truly zooms in on specific technological opportunities and translates these opportunities into tangible impact for communities.

That is a great question, and thank you for bringing that up. Before I dive into that, I think it’s important to outline what I see as the major technology trends shaping our world today. One significant trend, in my view, is decentralisation. Decentralisation is largely enabled by blockchain technology, or more broadly, by distributed ledger technologies.
The second major trend is Artificial Intelligence (AI). We are, of course, seeing how AI is influencing our lives quite extensively.
And the third key trend is cloud computing and cloud storage, which are also significantly impacting our lives and the way we conduct our work. So, let’s consider decentralisation and how it can be applied to a country like Nigeria. Nigeria is a vast and diverse nation, with numerous states and different arms of government. There are also inherent complexities when it comes to effectively delivering public services to the people who need them most.
Now, the advantage of decentralised technologies, with blockchain technology, is that it allows multiple people to participate and jointly own a system. When we consider this from the perspective of government services, it means that various government institutions can participate in owning a digital system and can jointly deploy this system to as many people as possible without the burdens of having a centralised system.
I will give a concrete example: if you have a decentralised identity management system, that means that the identity the system is not being held by just one entity or by one government institution; it is held by multiple government institutions. This means that when you put in your details in one place, it immediately becomes accessible to all of the different participating entities. Furthermore, if I register for my ID here in Abuja and use it for a service within Abuja, if I need to access a government service in Lokoja, Lagos, Borno, or in Sokoto, or any other part of the country, my identity information is immediately available. With robust identity systems, we can build other essential public services on top of them. So that is one example.
The other trend that I talked about was Artificial Intelligence. Translating this to Nigeria again, the big benefit of AI lies in its advanced data analysis and data processing. It is exciting that you can process ultra-large data sets very quickly, fairly, and effectively, and then extract valuable insights from that analysis.
Now, if we think about it from that very basic perspective, then you can think about all the types of analysis that we can do across different sectors, whether it is traffic management, demographic assessments, population censuses etc. In the medical field, for instance, we can leverage AI for initial medical diagnoses. Again, in the context of a large country like Nigeria, where we are actively working to train more doctors to meet our national needs but still have a significant gap to bridge, the benefit could be in health tech solutions that effectively extend healthcare access to many communities, providing a crucial bridge to fill that gap and ensure people begin receiving initial access to health services while we continue to strengthen our national human resources in healthcare
So, I’ve provided two concrete examples, I talked about Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence, which illustrate potential pathways for translating global technology trends into impactful solutions within Nigeria.

Yes, this is a crucial question, and I’m very glad you’ve raised it. The world is at a very unique point in the trajectory of technological development, a lot is happening, and it is happening at a very fast pace. If we don’t make sound decisions – not just as humanity as a whole, but specifically as Nigeria and other countries in Africa and around the world – if we fail to make the right decisions now, the likelihood of being left behind, missing out on numerous opportunities, and constantly playing catch-up becomes significantly higher. This directly relates to your question.
I say this because when you think about the positive or negative aspects of any technology, you also have to think about one thing: the ecosystem in which that technology operates. The success of any technology is typically contingent on a healthy innovation ecosystem. This ecosystem encompasses effective policies and appropriate regulations, the right financial incentives, robust supporting infrastructure (including energy and telecommunications), and various other strategic enablers such as advocacy and institutional support for the rollout of the technology.
Now this ecosystem applies as well to managing the risks of any technology, and it fundamentally starts at the policy level. Different people have different opinions about this, it seems that research also points in this direction, that having regulations is essential.
Having the right regulations in place early on is essential. And that is not solely about the technology: it also concerns access to data, management of data, supporting businesses, and encouraging the creation of an environment where businesses that are testing out these technologies have the freedom to do so in a safe space, while also protecting consumers. Managing the risks is not exclusively about focusing on the technology itself, it is about protecting consumers, managing the risks across diverse industries, and creating regulations that encourage innovators to try out their solutions.
It also involves creating a space where governments can test out technologies with innovators before they are deployed. Too often, innovators create something and then roll it out to the public immediately, without testing it with the public or testing it with governments.
Interestingly, we have conducted research in this area, and one of the patents we have is for a system that utilises artificial intelligence and decentralised technologies to allow innovators to test their innovations against potential regulations before those regulations are officially implemented. The underlying vision here is to reach a point where regulation precedes the widespread rollout of innovations. Currently, the common scenario is that innovation is launched, and regulatory authorities then find themselves playing catch-up, which is where significant risks arise.
The other vital approach I believe we can and should use to manage risk is education: educating not only the people who are developing these technologies, but also educating the general public to foster understanding. This includes integrating knowledge about technology into the school system, but also educating the different institutions that have oversight over these technologies. The goal is to demystify these advancements and demonstrate their potential applications across numerous different sectors.
For example, when you mention blockchain, many people immediately associate it with cryptocurrency. However, blockchains offer numerous benefits beyond cryptocurrencies. One of the most significant benefits is transparency and the potential to significantly reduce, or even eliminate, fraud when implemented correctly. This is because once data is recorded on a blockchain, it can be traced from its inception to the present moment. So, by demystifying these technologies, we can demonstrate their broader benefits, highlighting the substantial opportunities for enhanced transparency, accountability, and reliability within various systems.

This is an excellent question. If you consider both distributed systems and artificial intelligence, I believe both of these technologies can contribute significantly to combating financial crime. Let’s begin with artificial intelligence.
As I mentioned earlier, AI excels at data analysis and processing data. The key benefit is the ability to process relevant data points to effectively track how a user is interacting with their account. This allows for the detection of unusual transaction patterns, not necessarily to monitor the specifics of their account activity, but to identify anomalies that might indicate a compromised account or identity theft
Going back to the example of blockchain and distributed ledgers, these systems provide a high degree of accuracy in tracking transactions. For instance, if a transaction is intended to occur from user A to user B, the system can definitively verify that the transaction did indeed originate from user A, was received by user B, and involved the correct amount.
Furthermore, these systems can be designed to verify that user B is not attempting to fraudulently spend the same currency elsewhere after the transaction has already been completed. They can also be designed to ensure that funds are not being used illicitly to finance illegal activities or purchase prohibited goods. The level of transparency desired becomes a matter of design choice, rather than a limitation of the technology itself.

I know that within our government, there are many highly capable individuals and a strong commitment from the leadership to improving the lives of Nigerians. If I were to suggest any additional area of focus for the government, it would be education.
Specifically, I believe in investing even more resources, building upon the existing commendable investments, in educating young people, particularly from a young age, on how to effectively interact with technology and on fostering new ways of thinking about problem-solving.
The reason I emphasised this is the rapid pace at which technology is evolving globally. The lives of future generations will be fundamentally different from our own.
As a professor, I recall that not long ago, we would ask students to write essays of, say, 2000 to 3000 words. We can’t do that anymore because with the right prompts on ChatGPT or other generative AI tools, a student can write a 10,000-word essay or even more. Easy, right? This necessitates a fundamental shift, not just in Nigeria but globally, in how we approach problem-solving and how we train future generations to tackle challenges. This transformation will occur through education.
By teaching children how to work with these technologies from an early age, we empower them to see these tools as instruments for solving problems in entirely new ways. This approach helps alleviate fears that future professionals, like doctors, might solely rely on AI without critical thinking, and instead fosters confidence in their ability to use AI and other tools to enhance their work and create greater value.
We need to change the way that we are thinking about problem solving, and we need to change the way that we are training future generations to approach problem solving, and that will happen through education.

Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure to share my thoughts and experiences with you and the Guardian Newspaper readers. I am truly passionate about the potential of technology to create positive change, and I hope our conversation has sparked some ideas and possibilities. I look forward to seeing the innovative solutions that emerge in Nigeria and across the continent.