NBTI Partners WIPO To Safeguard Intellectual Property, Power Innovation

The National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI) has entered into partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) to strengthen Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem.

NBTI’s Chief Information and Public Relations Officer, Olajumoke David, in a statement in Abuja, said the collaboration followed a high-level meeting held at the United Nations Office in Abuja where its Director General, Dr. Kazeem Kolawole Raji, engaged with WIPO’s Country Director, Dr. Tobi Moody.

David in the statement said the meeting was to chart a collaborative path toward protecting intellectual property (IP), enhancing innovation, and empowering entrepreneurship nationwide.

At the meeting, Dr. Raji emphasised NBTI’s pivotal role as Nigeria’s technology warehouse, championing technology incubation as a key engine for industrialisation, job creation, and youth empowerment.

He outlined the Board’s agenda, including establishing Technology Innovation Support Centres (TISCs) across all NBTI offices, rolling out Renewed Hope Technology Hubs in each geopolitical zone, and launching Technology Incubation Centres (TICs) in all 774 local government areas across the country.

Raji stressed that these initiatives were fully aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for inclusive and innovation-driven growth.

With Nigeria’s population surpassing 237 million, Raji reaffirmed NBTI’s commitment to transforming the country’s abundant natural resources into globally competitive, exportable products through technology incubation.

He further told Dr. Moody of the plans by the agency to commercialise over 5,000 patents and incubate more than 500,000 start-ups by 2030, leveraging the ingenuity and resilience of Nigerians.

Aside TISCs, the statement also listed the key areas of proposed collaboration between NBTI and WIPO to include IP Protection and Commercialisation to assist beneficiaries to obtain patents, trademarks, and copyrights to secure their innovations.
Others include support for R&D commercialization which seeks to help in turning indigenous technologies into market-ready products through WIPO-backed research and product development support.
Also is the entrepreneurship development to offer IP awareness programmes, mentorship, workshops, and access to local and international funding for startups and SMEs.
The NBTI is also proposing policy and regulatory framework to jointly develop national IP, branding and marketing policies to boost competitiveness.
It also seeks technology transfer to facilitate the movement of innovations from research institutions to the marketplace; market research and business development which focuses on conducting market analysis and providing guidance in business planning, marketing, and financing.
The last is the product certification towards supporting compliance with international product standards to improve global market access.

Responding, Moody commended the NBTI’s clear vision and ongoing impact on Nigeria’s innovation space, stressing the importance of enhancing IP literacy among NBTI staff and called for better branding and standardisation of Nigerian products to increase global appeal.

The WIPO boss expressed strong support for the partnership, reaffirming its readiness to assist in implementing IP policies, improving product certification, and advancing Nigeria’s journey toward an innovation-led economy.

“This landmark collaboration is set to unlock Nigeria’s vast innovation potential by protecting intellectual property, fostering entrepreneurship, and catalyzing sustainable economic growth,” the statement noted.