***AI threatens 40% of global jobs — IMF

By Babajide Komolafe, Economy Editor

BANGKOK, Thailand — The International Monetary Fund, IMF, and the World Bank have warned that Artificial Intelligence, AI, could worsen the jobs crisis in Nigeria and other developing economies unless governments and businesses take urgent steps to prepare workers and deploy the technology to create employment.

IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, gave the warning at the Small AI: More and Better Jobs event during the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, describing AI as a “slow-moving tsunami”.

According to her, about 40 per cent of jobs globally could be augmented, downgraded or eliminated by AI, with the impact varying across economies and occupations.

Georgieva warned that the technology could disrupt labour markets, stressing the need for countries to understand its implications and equip workers with the skills required to adapt.

World Bank Group President, Ajay Banga, said the institution’s priority is to ensure that economic development translates into employment opportunities.

“The bank’s entire focus has to be on jobs,” Banga said, arguing that AI should be deployed to improve productivity and support job creation rather than simply replace workers.

He said affordable, practical AI applications could help “a school, an educator, a healthcare system, an agricultural system for small farmers to get to scale”.

Banga illustrated the potential with a farmer using a basic mobile phone to photograph a diseased crop and receive advice on treatment. The technology could also connect the farmer to seeds, fertiliser, credit, insurance and market information.

In healthcare, he said, AI-enabled tools can help frontline health workers assess cases and connect patients requiring specialist attention to appropriate services.

The approach, known as “Small AI”, focuses on applications adapted to local languages, infrastructure, needs and budgets, rather than relying exclusively on expensive, sophisticated AI systems.

The World Bank’s October 2026 Africa Economic Update identifies Nigeria, alongside Kenya and South Africa, as one of the continent’s leading centres of AI activity. However, it stresses that adoption remains at an early stage and that Africa’s immediate opportunity lies in adapting affordable AI solutions to local challenges.

The report identifies agriculture, education, healthcare, finance, logistics and public administration as sectors where AI can improve productivity.

It also warns that unreliable electricity, inadequate internet connectivity, limited digital skills and poor-quality data could constrain adoption.

For Nigeria, the challenge is to build these foundations and ensure AI becomes a tool for creating productive jobs, not deepening existing employment pressures.

It will be recalled that the World Bank’s Digital Progress and Trends Report 2025: Strengthening AI Foundations, had outlined the global AI divide and how low- and middle-income countries could harness artificial intelligence.

The Global AI Divide

Concentration in Wealthy Nations: High-income countries account for 87% of notable AI models, 86% of AI startups, and 91% of global venture capital funding for AI (as of mid-2025).

The report had stated: “Usage vs Infrastructure Gap: Middle-income countries (such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam) drive over 40% of global ChatGPT traffic, yet low-income countries account for less than 1% of traffic and negligible data centre capacity (<0.1%).

Skills Deficit: Basic digital skills range from less than 5% in low-income nations up to 66% in high-income nations, with severe talent migration pulling 3–4 times more tech workers out of developing regions than flow in.”  

In 2023, the World Bank estimated that less than five per cent of the population in low-income countries used basic digital services such as email, web search, or online transactions, highlighting a severe global divide in basic and advanced AI capabilities.

The bank warned that without targeted investments in education, infrastructure, and local talent retention, developing nations risked remaining passive consumers, rather than active creators in the global AI economy.

“Leadership emphasised that simple, affordable AI applications, such as mobile tools helping smallholder farmers diagnose crop diseases or assisting local healthcare workers, hold massive potential for boosting productivity in emerging markets” the World Bank added.

Also recall that the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions, ASSBIFI, had recently in Lagos, reechoed  the fears of the World Bank and IMF, saying workers were already losing jobs to robotic technology.

The association’s President, Fanimokun Adesina, had at the commemoration of the world day for decent work, 2026, Fanimokun Adesina, said:  ‘’The future belongs to skilled workers. Digital skills, Artificial Intelligence and robotics are already displacing many workers.

‘’We must equip ourselves with evolving workplace technologies and digital skills to improve performance and productivity to remain relevant in the world of work.”