Nigeria launches Meta-backed AI chatbot for government information access

Nigeria has launched a new artificial intelligence-powered chatbot designed to help citizens access government information and services, in one of the country’s biggest public sector AI projects so far.

Meta built the chatbot called GovGuide Nigeria in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy (FMCIDE), the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), and local AI company Publica AI.

Announced on Thursday during Meta’s Economic Impact report launch in Nigeria, the platform uses Meta’s open-source Llama AI models to provide government service information through a multilingual voice and text interface available on the web.

The launch also underscores Meta’s broader push to expand the reach of its open-source AI models across emerging markets, particularly in Africa. Its No Language Left Behind (NLLB-200) model now supports more than 50 African languages—roughly twice the coverage offered by most traditional translation systems.

GovGuide supports English, Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba in a bid to make public information more accessible to rural communities, low-literacy populations, and citizens navigating Nigeria’s fragmented public service systems. However, adoption may be limited by poor broadband penetration in rural areas and the poor usage of smartphone devices. 

“The GovGuide initiative reflects our commitment to leveraging artificial intelligence to make government services and information more accessible and responsive to the needs of Nigerians,” Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, said. 

The launch comes more than a year after the Nigeria Data Protection Commission fined Meta $32.8 million over alleged violations of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, including unauthorised data transfers and a lack of user consent. Reports later indicated that the fine was waived after Meta agreed to cover legal costs and support privacy awareness initiatives.