Abolaji Adebayo 
In the next five years, Artificial intelligence technology in the retail industry is ex- pected to grow by $8.25 billion sequentially. The global market for AI was val- ued at $6.32 billion in 2022 and it is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 30.5 30.5 percent between 2021 and 2028. This is according to the global research platform, Statista, which revealed around two-thirds of retail professionals view the use of AI as crucial when it comes to optimizing store operations. According to the platform, from warehouse automation to efficient store operations, AI has many po- tential use cases in the retail industry.
It noted that the most important area where IT executives working in retail companies saw the biggest benefit of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was productivity, operational cost reductions, and faster time to profitability. “According to the results of a survey conducted in February 2023, other areas such as customer satisfaction, risk management, and personalization were seen as key areas where businesses could benefit from AI. “Thanks to the release of OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT, the level of interest in artificial intelligence and artificial general intelligence among the general public and various business sectors has risen. According to a survey, in the United States, many marketing and advertising businesses have already adopted generative AI in the workplace,” it added. According to Next Move Strat- egy Consulting, the market for artificial intelligence is expected to show strong growth in the com- ing decade. Its value of nearly $100 billion is expected to grow twentyfold by 2030, up to nearly $2 trillion. The AI market covers a vast amount of industries. Everything from supply chains, marketing, product making, research, analy- sis, and more are fields that will in some aspect adopt artificial intelligence within their business structures. Chatbots, image- generating AI, and mobile appli- cations are all among the major trends in improving AI in the coming years. Meanwhile, AI is more promi- nent in the healthcare sector.
Nigeria’s Artificial Intelligence in the healthcare market is projected to grow from $0.01 billion in 2022 to $0.13 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 46.22 per ent during the forecast period of 2022 – 2030. According to the Nigeria Health Facility Registry (NHFR), Nigeria has 39,914 operational hospitals and clinics. According to the nominal facility data, La- gos, Katsina, and Benue are the top three states in the country with the most health facilities. Nigeria has an average of 17 hospitals per 100,000 people, com- bining private and public hospi- tals at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of care. With its large population and substantial disease burden, Nige- ria presents an enormous chance for AI in healthcare. Several Nige- rian healthcare institutions have begun to implement AI-based solutions to improve healthcare delivery. The Lagos University Teaching Hospital has created an AI-pow- ered system for diagnosing breast cancer. The system analyses mam- mograms using machine learning algorithms to detect early signs of breast cancer.
Wellvis, a Nigerian startup, created an AI-powered telemedicine platform. The platform allows patients to consult with healthcare providers remotely, increasing access to healthcare services, particularly in rural areas with inadequate healthcare infrastructure. The increasing availability of AI-based solutions as well as in- creased government and private sector investment in the advancement of artificial intelligence in healthcare are projected to propel AI adoption in Nigeria in the com- ing years. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has launched a research grant programme to en- courage the development of inno- vative and relevant technologies, such as artificial intelligence in healthcare. Furthermore, the country’s healthcare challenges such as a lack of medical infrastructure, a shortage of healthcare providers, and a high burden of disease are becoming more severe. AI technologies in healthcare can help improve access to care, reduce medical errors, and enable personalised medicine leading to market expansion in the country.