Hackathon Will Position Nigeria As Global AI, 5G Solutions Supplier – Shettima

Vice President Kashim Shettima has said the Connect NextGen Innovation Hackathon will position Nigeria as a global supplier of digital solutions while creating jobs in the technology sector.

Specifically, he said the four-month programme, which is one of the key operationalisation phases of the Ericsson-federal government MoU on digitally upskilling Nigerian youths, policymakers and public sector decision-makers in modern technologies, would build on Nigeria’s rise as Africa’s top hub for unicorns and global tech talent.

Speaking yesterday when he launched the initiative at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja, the Vice President, who was represented by deputy chief of staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, said the programme aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s job creation agenda by harnessing the country’s youth population for the digital economy.

He said, “His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has placed job creation at the very top of his priorities. So, this hackathon is not an isolated event; it is a continuation of a national strategy.

“The Connect NextGen Innovation Hackathon is designed to deepen this reality—to make Nigeria a supplier of solutions to the world. A brilliant line of code written in Abuja can power a system in Stockholm; a solution imagined in Kano can transform a farm in Kenya,” he said in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Stanley Nkwocha.

Shettima explained that the hackathon will empower young talents, startups and university students to build transformative solutions using 5G, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, IoT, and sustainable technologies.

“The current wave of the Industrial Revolution—powered by 5G, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, IoT and sustainable technologies—is not a tide we can afford to watch from the shore. History is unkind to nations that choose the backseat in moments of transformation,” he said.

Shettima observed that Nigeria’s greatest asset lies in its human capital rather than natural resources, noting that the country’s demographic dividend tilts decisively in favour of the youth.

On Ericsson’s role in the initiative, the VP said the partnership has reinforced the tech giant’s “position as a strategic enabler of Nigeria’s digital transformation goals, providing real-world applications of 5G, IoT platforms, edge computing and AI in networks.”

In his remarks, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh, explained that the launch was an expression that those agreements, MoUs and expressions of interest wouldn’t remain in the books but would find expression in activities and investments in projects running to multi-billion-dollar levels.

The minister pledged the ministry’s support for the hackathon in various ways, including commercialisation, competition research, and invention outcomes.

In her remarks, the Ambassador of Sweden, Anna Westerholm, described Nigeria as a country of talent, creativity and ambition, noting that Nigeria’s digital sector is one of the most dynamic and promising innovation ecosystems on the African continent.

On his part, the country manager of Ericsson Nigeria, Mr Peter Olusoji Ogundele, said the initiatives represent a concrete step in delivering on the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2024 between Ericsson and the federal government to boost innovation, skills development and the digital economy.

According to him, Ericsson’s over 40 years of operations in Nigeria and nearly 150 years globally have helped build trusted networks from fixed telephony and GSM to broadband, 5G, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.

He explained that the AXN National Hackathon is designed to unlock the creativity of Nigerian youths by equipping them with world-class tools to solve real national challenges in areas such as food security, smart cities and digital inclusion.

On the AXN Educate Programme for Policymakers, Ogundele said it is tailored to enhance the digital competence of government officials, enabling evidence-based policymaking and stronger governance in the digital economy.

Also, the special assistant to the President on ICT Policy, Dr Salihu Ibrahim Dasuki, said Nigeria and Sweden had been partners, and have sustained that private sector for quite some time.

He said the launch is also in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, as it will not only provide training but also offer employment to the youth.

On her part, the special assistant to the President on Project Support, Suhdah Ahmed, said the launch showed how innovation ecosystems are built by connecting knowledge, capital, policy and market.