The federal government is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite technology to identify and support impoverished Nigerians living in urban slums, according to Nentawe Yilwatda, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.
Speaking on Arise TV, Yilwatda said the use of AI has enabled a major expansion of the National Social Register, which now includes nearly 20 million Nigerians.
Yilwatda explained that the social register, initially designed to capture only the rural poor, has grown from 13 million to 19.7 million individuals.
He stated that President Bola Tinubu directed the ministry to extend the register to cover the urban poor as well. To achieve this, the government used satellite imagery to identify urban slums and then relied on telecommunications data to pinpoint residents through their mobile numbers.
“We used satellite imagery to locate urban slums, then base stations and telecoms data to identify phone numbers in those locations,” the minister said.
“AI helped us generate a list of urban poor individuals by verifying those numbers, their access to financial services, and other indicators.”
The enhanced register now enables the government to roll out more inclusive anti-poverty programmes, reaching both rural and urban communities.
According to Yilwatda, about 15 million households, or 75 million people, are being targeted with various poverty alleviation initiatives. With Nigeria home to approximately 43 million households, this intervention covers a significant portion of the population.
In addressing hunger, the minister noted that about 42 percent of Nigerians are affected by food poverty. This translates to around 80 million individuals or 20 million households.
Yilwatda said the government is offering conditional cash transfers to 15 million of these households to mitigate the crisis. Each household receives N75,000, a sum he acknowledged may seem small in urban settings but has tangible impact in rural areas.
Research conducted in partnership with the World Bank and civil society groups found that 18% of beneficiaries used the money to start small businesses….