Nigeria: NiMet collaborates with Tomorrow.io to advance digital weather intelligence

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tomorrow.io, a weather intelligence company to elevate the capabilities of digital weather and climate intelligence, fostering advancements in the field.

The MoU with the leading weather intelligence company based in the US city of Boston will see NiMet and the firm collaborate on a whole range of areas including commercializing weather data, improving accuracy of weather and climate forecasts, and application of artificial intelligence in weather and climate intelligence.

Speaking at the MoU signing at NiMet’s headquarters in Abuja, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike said: “We have found good partners in Tomorrow.io. We are aspiring to actualize the mandate given to NiMet by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo on revenue generation and improved safety of the aviation sector.”

“As an agency, NiMet is already doing a lot. We are always on the lookout for partners that will help us improve and expand on our services. Artificial Intelligence and technology are playing leading roles in weather and climate forecasts. This partnership with Tomorrow.io will help us to do more for our various stakeholders across the socio-economic sectors we serve including aviation, agriculture, marine, oil and gas, construction, academia etc”.

The Director of Africa Expansion at Tomorrow.io, Yaniv Gelnik, highlighted that lessons learned from Kenya and other nations affirm the feasibility of providing daily downscaled weather and climate information to end-users, particularly farmers. The emphasis is on delivering this valuable data in formats that are practical and user-friendly.

He expressed that enabling this process will empower farmers in effective planning. Through this approach, farmers will have the capability to access daily weather intelligence directly on their mobile handsets, regardless of their location.

“That’s part of the value proposition that Tomorrow.io is bringing to the partnership with NiMet. Ai allows for precise, unique, efficient and faster weather and climate forecasts compared to current systems and models. This will be of immense value to NiMet’s value-chain stakeholders” he stated.