Recently, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) launched the ambitious NASENI Innovation Hub (NIH), tailored to foster local innovations among talented youths and to drive industrialization, create jobs, and reduce reliance on foreign products in Nigeria.
The launch of the NASENI Innovation Hub is also to support Nigerian innovators with mentorship and a component part of it is the Innovate Naija Challenge, developed in partnership with AfriLabs, which aims to bridge the support gap for young innovators, help commercialize their technologies, and drive Nigeria’s industrialization and economic growth.
The Innovate Naija Challenge keys into the development paradigm of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Tinubu administration to provide a supportive ecosystem for startups and innovators with infrastructure, mentorship, and funding.
Under the astute leadership of the NASENI Executive Vice Chairman (EVC/CEO), Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, the Innovate Naija Challenge is designed to spark a wave of excitement and online engagement, while identifying, empowering, and supporting innovative minds across Nigeria.
The InnovateNaija Challenge is a nationwide competition with a N250 million prize pool to support and discover youth-led solutions. It is billed to unlock and empower youth innovation across the country.
AfriLabs, a pan-African innovation network, teams up with NASENI to facilitate research support, access to funding networks, and a connection to the market to turn prototypes into viable businesses.
NASENI is also collaborating with the DeltHer Expansion Programme, focused on empowering women in engineering and The FutureMakers Programme, aimed at nurturing young innovators with grants and mentorship as well as the NASENI Xceler8 program, which accelerates startups in science, engineering, and manufacturing.
The main purpose of the InnovateNaija Challenge is to trigger creativity and generate a vibrant online buzz within the innovation ecosystem in Nigeria to attract innovators that will develop new ideas that springboard the country into industrialization.
By fostering an atmosphere of positive energy on social media, the campaign seeks to engage Nigerians in a nationwide movement to support and celebrate indigenous ideas and products.
Under the scheme, 37 state-level winners — one from each of Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT — will be selected through public voting. Each will receive a N2.5 million grant to develop their innovations.
The top 15 will progress to the grand finale at the NASENI Invention Fest in Abuja, February 2026, where they will pitch their solutions before expert judges and stakeholders with the overall winner walking away with N100 million in funding.
The initiative which officially kicked off on September 4, 2025, at the GITEX Nigeria 10x Stage, Landmark Event Centre, Lagos, offers valuable funding opportunities to successful winners, encouraging individuals from all walks of life to showcase their inventions or innovations through creative video submissions.
The Challenge is also a platform to engage the Nigerian public for three months to showcase a diverse range of ideas from Nigerian innovators, fostering a vibrant community of science and manufacturing stakeholders across the country.
The Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NASENI, Khalil Suleiman Halilu, said the Challenge reflects the Agency’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for innovation to thrive.
He said “The InnovateNaija Challenge is an incredible opportunity, offering funding to 37 outstanding youths to bring their ideas to life. The NASENI Innovation Hub will nurture these sparks into scalable solutions, advancing Nigeria’s technological capabilities.”
The Executive Director of AfriLabs, Anna Ekeledo, described the initiative as a boost to Africa’s innovation ecosystem, saying “by empowering innovators across all states in Nigeria, this competition not only fuels creativity but also strengthens the innovation ecosystem. We are excited to support NASENI in spotlighting Nigerian ingenuity.”
The NASENI Innovation hub is built to accelerate the development of local solutions, moving Nigeria from a consumer of foreign goods to a creator of value as well as boost renewable energy, machine tools, electronics, and others which will help to build a robust, non-oil-dependent economy.
The Hub has the potential of converting research into commercial products, often through small and medium enterprises (SMEs), designed to create skilled jobs and foster a sustainable middle class thereby promoting the production of “Made-In-Nigeria” goods, such as laptops and mobile devices.
The development of indigenous, technologically advanced products has the potential to open up export opportunities, helping Nigeria earn foreign exchange and participate in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The Hub functions to create these impacts such as connecting innovators with a network of peers, industry leaders, investors, and other key stakeholders to accelerate development and market entry.
The NASENI Innovation Hub also provides financial support and strengthens NASENI’s Reverse Japa Programme specifically targeting Nigerian researchers abroad, offering them funds to set up businesses and commercialize their innovations in Nigeria, bringing global expertise back home.
With this initiative, Nigeria is now prepared to join countries of the world that made significant breakthroughs in innovation and technology such as the US, China, Japan and other countries of the world.
NASENI is driving Nigeria fast in this trajectory to learn and perhaps assimilate some of the variables these great nations imbibed to prosper in the innovation and technology sphere.
Innovation and technological breakthroughs were at the heart of the transformation that brought prosperity and power to countries such as China, Japan, Korea and all the other Asian countries that have made massive contributions in the industrial landscape of the world.
For instance, the Chinese perhaps have the most amazing breakthroughs in innovation in varied sectors which lifted over 800 million Chinese out of absolute poverty in just 40 years. Today, Chinese massive investment in technology and innovation has brought it to an enviable level as China has been tagged “the manufacturing hub of the world,” making it the second largest economy in the world.
Shenzhen is better known as China’s primary tech hub and is often called “China’s Silicon Valley”. Other major tech centers include those in the Chinese capital Beijing, which is home to the Zhongguancun technology hub, and Hangzhou, which has become a major center for internet and e-commerce companies like Alibaba.
Similarly, the Silicon Valley in the US is another massive global tech hub that has captured world attention and its impact on the US economy is significant, driving innovation, productivity, and economic growth while also contributing to wealth creation and a high cost of living with enormous highly skilled labour.
The NASENI Innovation Hub is programmed to ensure stable, consistent and better funded innovators, it is predicted that in years to come, Nigeria will join the rest of the world in innovative competitiveness.
