Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman Ibrahim, has promised support for the promotion of safe access to digital technology. The minister made the promise at the first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit for Children in Africa, tagged Kids Tech Fest.

The event targeted children between six and 16 years. For the maiden edition, 200 schools with over 2,000 families attended the event. The discussions centred around introducing children to AI, child’s safety, the possibility that abounds in AI for children, AI adoption in Africa, among others.

My Go-To Buddy, an AI learning community, was also launched during the programme held at the Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. The minister also reiterated the ministry’s mission to protect and empower children, women, families, and all vulnerable groups.

Ibrahim, who was represented by her Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Jonathan Eze, said that in the past year, the ministry had significantly deepened efforts through key reforms and nationwide programmes, including the revision of the Child Rights Act.

She said the critical update aimed to align the Act with modern challenges such as online child safety, cyberbullying, and child trafficking.

Convener, Kids Tech Fest, Justina Nnam Oha, said: “Africa boasts of one of the highest growing youth populations in the world, but we deliberate on if we can dominate the technology landscape in the next couple of years. The relevance of our children and how much we bring them up to the speed of the advancement of AI with our context as Africans is critical.”

Oha, who is also the CEO, Digital Equity Africa, added: “We will be back here next year to showcase what we have achieved in 365 days.” On her part, tech expert, Lavina Rankisson, said: “Children should be given access to learning about AI as early as possible. Africa must bridge the gap. For instance, how can we get degrees that are multidiscipline; Africans should not make things four years long, but shorter so that there is a liquid of upskilling that should happen, producing more skilled students.”