Every Thursday, Delve into AI will provide nuanced insights on how the continent’s AI trajectory is shaping up. In this column, we examine how AI influences culture, policy, businesses, and vice versa. Read to get smarter about the people, projects, and questions shaping Africa’s AI future.
Yes, Africa needs more computing power, but building the future of AI in Nigeria and the continent means more investment in math talent.
Two weeks ago, when OpenAI announced that its latest AI model had won a gold medal at the International Maths Olympiad (IMO), the most prestigious global maths competition for secondary school students, it sparked a more profound curiosity in Wale Akinfaderin, a Nigerian AI researcher at Amazon. “Where are Nigeria’s own IMO stars today?”
That question led Akinfaderin down an interesting rabbit hole. Shortly, his questions became a passion project of mapping the trajectories of former Nigerian participants from 2006 to 2021 at the International Mathematics Olympiad.
“I wanted to put the report together; the idea for me is to shine light on stories that are usually untold,” Akinfaderin told in an interview.
After reading his report, I sought to ask an even deeper question: “Is there a pipeline of math olympiad alumni from Nigeria currently doing interesting things in AI?” The short answer is yes. After speaking with some of these IMO alumni, a deeper conclusion became clear.
We talk a lot about AI infrastructure, regulations, and ethics. But foundational talent at the core of AI research, mathematical competency, is still overlooked. If Africa wants to shape its AI future, not just adopt one built elsewhere, we need to cultivate talent beyond coding skills across languages.
A true brain drain
Williams Okeke represented Nigeria at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in 2017 and 2018. He also took part in the Pan African Mathematics Olympiad in 2016 and 2017, where he won a gold medal. His success at these competitions opened doors to a university scholarship in Russia, where he studied pure mathematics before pursuing graduate studies in Mathematics and Computer Science at another Russian university. Today, he works as an engineer optimising large language models at Huawei, a Chinese tech firm playing a leading role in the China AI race.
“At the Olympiad, you’re often stuck on a single problem for hours, with no guarantee that you’ll solve it,” Okeke said. “ That mental resilience, sitting with ambiguity and thinking deeply, that’s what AI research work demands today. AI is still very experimental.”
Mmesomachi Nwachukwu was also a participant at the IMO on four different occasions: from 2014 to 2018, until he was about to begin his tertiary education. He won silver medals at the Pan African Maths Olympiad. Like Okeke, he received a full scholarship to study mathematics at a Russian university, then went on to bag a master’s in Mathematics and Computer Science at Skoltech, an institution founded in collaboration with MIT. He has been working as a researcher at an AI lab in Moscow and hopes to begin his doctorate studies in AI-related research.
“If I’m to make a serious breakthrough in my AI research,” Nwachukwu said, “it’s probably going to be the name of Russia.”
Olympiad-level mathematics is one of the underrated assets in global AI talent pipelines.
Students who train for these competitions eventually go on to do meaningful work in AI and broader computer science research, often in other, more technologically advanced countries. Through these competitions, students, often at secondary school level, are pushed to develop problem-solving skills in abstract algebra, discrete mathematics, and probability years ahead of any regular university syllabus. This skillset is crucial for AI researchers who intend to push the field forward.
What is Nigeria missing?
While Nigeria made an impressive feat by becoming one of the first African countries to release a National AI strategy, there is still a long road towards achieving the goals it sets out in the strategy. The country aims to position itself as a ‘global hub for the application of AI’ through the nationwide program to train three million tech talents. Still, there is little to no emphasis on developing core mathematics and STEM competencies necessary for the kind of AI research that achieves this.
Nigeria has not been able to send a team to the International Maths Olympiad since 2021 largely due to funding issues. When a country fails to invest in competitions and opportunities like these, it risks weakening its pipeline of future AI talent.
“There’s no shortage of talent in Nigeria,” Okeke said. “ What’s missing is the support system. Students can’t create opportunities for themselves; that’s where the government and other institutions need to step up.”
Current AI strategies are under-investing in pathways that lead to impactful research work on AI for Nigeria.
What can be done
In 2019, a Nigerian IMO alum, Dr Abdulwahab Animoku, created the Special Maths Academy (SMA). The goal was simple: he wanted to provide a space to train young intelligent minds in Nigeria to be competitive at international maths competitions like the IMO. He reached out to more IMO alumni, including Okeke and Nwachukwu, who were still undergraduate students in Russia at the time, and Pius Aje Onah, who finished his studies at the University of Cambridge. Together, they have been running intensive physical and virtual training programs to select students for more competitions.
The goal now is to provide more university scholarship opportunities, fund travel for international competitions and build pipelines for students to get relevant research and industry experiences. However, they believe they are only scratching the surface.
“We try to get grants and give students more opportunities, but there’s only so much we can do. Without wider support, we can’t scale,” Okeke said.
While Nigeria’s math talent continues to leave the country in droves, it remains critical to establish strategies, structures, and support systems that nurture such talent from an early age. Talent may leave, but their impact doesn’t have to.
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