By Mustapha Yauri
A strategic policy and national development research organisation says Nigeria could tap into the projected 650 billion dollars global artificial intelligence (AI) expansion by strategically developing its coal reserves.
The organisation, Galadiman Ruwa Centre for Strategic Leadership and Communication, raised concerns over the urgent need for policy action to enable the country capture emerging energy and technology opportunities.
In an open memo to President Bola Tinubu, the centre described Nigeria as a “slumbering golden giant” within global energy supply chains, urging the Federal Government to unlock coal resources to maximise industrial value.
Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Zaria, the founder of the centre, Dr Ja’afaru Sa’ad, said global competition for AI dominance had increasingly become an energy contest.
Sa’ad noted that major technology companies now require massive and stable electricity supplies to power next-generation data centres and high-performance computing systems.
According to him, global technology leaders have raised concerns about sustaining energy for artificial intelligence infrastructure, citing remarks attributed to Google Chief Executive Officer, Sundar Pichai, and Meta’s multi-billion-dollar AI investment plans.
The think-tank estimated that global technology firms could spend about 650 billion dollars on AI expansion in 2026 alone, an amount exceeding the annual budgets of several developing economies combined.
Sa’ad said Nigeria holds a strategic advantage, with nearly five billion metric tonnes of coal reserves, describing the resource as a potential pillar for global energy security in the emerging artificial intelligence era.
He warned that continued underutilisation of coal resources could cost Nigeria trillions of dollars in lost opportunities across industrialisation, manufacturing and energy value chains, both domestically and in export markets.
The memo, he said, also proposed the establishment of a Nigerian Green Energy and Chemicals Corporation to transform coal and related resources into high-value energy and industrial products.
According to him, such an initiative would support long-term national energy security, industrial competitiveness and economic diversification goals.
Sa’ad urged the Federal Government to reduce reliance on debt-driven growth and instead pursue sovereign economic engineering focused on unlocking dormant industrial assets and strengthening national energy security frameworks.
“The global economy is undergoing a structural shift driven by energy and artificial intelligence. Nigeria must act quickly or risk missing one of the defining industrial transformation opportunities of the century,” he said. (NAN)
Edited by Muhammad Lawal
