Ex-Nigerian American NFL Player Ekiyor Launches Pro-Youth Foundation

Emil Ekiyor, a retired American NFL player of Nigerian descent, has launched the InnoPower Africa Foundation, the non-profit arm of InnoPower Indy, USA, dedicated to empowering African youth through innovation, talent development, and job creation.

The foundation aims to build an inclusive innovation ecosystem that connects young Africans to global opportunities through technology and entrepreneurship.

At the unveiling ceremony in Lagos, Ekiyor stated that the foundation was established to tackle the issues of unemployment and underdeveloped talent across Africa by equipping young people with practical skills for the digital economy.

“Our mission is to democratise AI literacy and economic opportunity across the continent, starting in Lagos. This is not aid; this is an investment in Africa’s digital future.

“In partnership with the Nigeria Philanthropy Office, the University of Lagos’s ARUA Centre of Excellence for Unemployment and Skills Development (CoE-USD), the ECOWAS Small Business Coalition, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), Itana (formerly Talent City), and others, we are creating a comprehensive ecosystem where skills development meets patient capital deployment, connecting AI-trained Nigerian entrepreneurs directly with U.S. investment networks.

“We are establishing AI literacy programmes aimed at training over 10,000 individuals through master trainer networks; developing patient capital pipelines to channel U.S. funds through the i-Philanthropy platform of the Federal Government to vetted entrepreneurs in Nigeria; facilitating global market access to create pathways to the digital economy; and forming strategic partnerships with other regional leaders in the ecosystem,” he explained.

Several guests at the launch, including Prof. Adedeji Badiru, Dean Emeritus of the Graduate School of Engineering and Management at the Air Force Institute of Technology, USA, described InnoPower Africa as a timely initiative to harness Africa’s demographic advantage and transform it into economic strength.

According to Prof. Sunday Abayomi Adebisi, Director of the Entrepreneurship and Skills Development Centre at the University of Lagos: “This is a bridge between youth potential and global opportunity. InnoPower Africa represents the kind of bold, homegrown leadership Africa needs to shape its future.”

The foundation also announced plans to expand its innovation programmes to other African countries in the coming years as part of its continental mission.