By Rukayat Moisemhe
Hemingway’s Safaris Africa and Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) have hosted a five-day robotics bootcamp to equip young Africans with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics skills.
This, they said, would solve real-world challenges in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The Head, Member Experience, Hemingway’s Safaris Africa, Ms Eucharia Egbuaba, on Thursday in Lagos via a communique, said the bootcamp was for young Africans between ages 12 and 15 years.
Egbuaba said that it was to equip young Africans with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics skills to solve real-world challenges.
She stated that the initiative signalled a fundamental change in how the company intended to engage Africa’s luxury travel market by integrating education, innovation and human capital development into family travel experiences.
She added that the bootcamp followed a previous explorers’ club mission to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) teen space camp in Alabama, and formed part of Hemingway’s broader 20 year vision of shaping the ‘global African’ identity.
Egbuaba said participants were tasked with developing practical solutions across four real world problem areas aligned with the United Nations SDGs.
“They include building hospital delivery robots to ease medical staff workloads, designing smart health alert devices for elderly care, engineering route optimisation vehicles to cut urban carbon emissions, and developing smart traffic bollards to improve pedestrian safety in busy city centres.
‘For younger members, the journey begins with learning how to use tools like robotics to shift thinking from building toys to building global solutions,” she said.
The LCCI President, Mr Leye Kupoluyi, noted that Nigeria’s AI market was projected to exceed $430 million in 2026, with approximately 88 per cent of Nigerian adults having interactions with AI tools.
Kupoluyi, however, noted that enterprise-scale deployment remains limited, creating a productivity and innovation gap that businesses must urgently address.
He stated that AI was no longer optional for Nigerian businesses but a strategic imperative for competitiveness, productivity, and economic growth.
He urged enterprises to move beyond experimentation and embrace structured AI adoption across operations, particularly in finance, logistics, retail, agriculture, manufacturing, and digital services.
Kupoluyi called on the Federal Government to position Nigeria as a regional AI hub through coordinated policies and digital infrastructure investment, AI-ready workforce development.
He also advocated an enabling regulatory environment that supported innovation and responsible AI deployment.
“We further call for stronger collaboration among government, academia, startups, technology providers, and the organised private sector to accelerate practical AI implementation and strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy,” he said.
Mr David Alozie, Founder of Workhen AI, reinforced the club’s commitment to aligning technology with tangible societal benefit.
The communique also detailed the unveiling of “Maestro”, Hemingway’s proprietary travel technology solution currently in its pilot phase.
The AI-powered platform is designed to guide members towards transformative travel experiences and deepen engagement with destinations beyond tourism.(NAN)
Edited by Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma
