World Bank Warns Developing Countries to Embrace AI or Be Left Behind

The World Bank has called on developing countries, including Nigeria, to embrace artificial intelligence technology tools to deliver better governance outcomes, warning that they risk being left behind if they fail to do so.

“AI has thrown developing economies a lifeline, and they should seize it,” said the Chief Economist of the World Bank Group, Indermit Gill, as the organisation launched its annual World Development Report.

Gill said developing countries do not need large models or big data centres to reap AI’s benefits, advocating instead for the adaptation of lower cost AI tools to local conditions in health, education, justice and agricultural sectors.

The bank has lowered its 2026 global growth forecast to its lowest level since the pandemic, citing the economic fallout of the Iran conflict, with low income and developing countries hit hardest by the shock.

The report’s director, Gaurav Nayyar, said the window to get AI adoption right is narrow, describing it as a once in a lifetime opportunity to solve problems that have resisted solutions for generations.

The World Bank’s recommendations include investing in electricity generation and distribution, expanding access to computing power, and improving the availability of local data to support AI adoption in developing economies.