International Law and the Governance of Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Nigeria’s Digital Economy

This paper examines the emerging international legal frameworks for the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) and their implications for Nigeria's rapidly developing digital economy. As AI applications proliferate across sectors including financial services, agriculture, and public administration, the need for legal frameworks ensuring safety, accountability, and respect for human rights has generated significant activity in international bodies including the UN, UNESCO, the OECD, and the African Union. Using a doctrinal research approach, the study analyses the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI (2021), the Council of Europe's AI Treaty (2024), the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, and emerging African Union digital policy frameworks, assessing how these instruments may apply to or influence Nigeria's AI governance landscape. It evaluates Nigeria's National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy and the National Information Technology Development Agency's (NITDA) Data Protection Regulation in light of international AI governance principles. The paper considers the specific risks posed by unregulated AI deployment in Nigeria's context, including bias in facial recognition used by security forces, AI-driven financial exclusion, and misinformation amplified by algorithmic content curation. Findings indicate significant gaps in Nigeria's domestic AI governance architecture, including the absence of an AI-specific regulatory framework and limited technical capacity in oversight bodies. Recommendations include developing a national AI strategy aligned with international standards, capacity building within NITDA, and engagement in African Union AI governance deliberations. Keywords: artificial intelligence, AI governance, NITDA, digital economy, Nigeria.