The InnovateNaija Challenge, a national engineering and manufacturing innovation competition powered by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), was designed as a pipeline. First, to identify engineering talent in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, give them access to NASENI’s physical infrastructure, and carry the strongest solutions into commercialisation.
Nanko Madu, Director of Programmes at AfriLabs, the pan-African network of over 500 innovation hubs across 53 countries, reveals why this model matters, and what it will take for Nigeria to build a genuine hardware and manufacturing economy.
What InnovateNaija actually offers
InnovateNaija moves from 133 finalists down to 36 state winners, one per state, and then to 15 national finalists. The competition is currently in this phase.
State-level grants start at ₦2.5 million ($1,812.36) and rise to ₦5 million ($3,624.71) in participating states, while the top national prize is ₦100 million ($72,494.24), with ₦30 million ($21,748.27) and ₦20 million ($14,498.85) for the first and second runners-up.
