The federal government has sealed a deal with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to build a multimillion-dollar innovation hub in Abuja.
The project, backed by a ¥1.6 billion grant — that’s about $12.1 million or over N18 billion — and is aimed at raising tech entrepreneurs across the country.
The deal was formally signed in Abuja at the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, where government officials and Japanese delegates gathered to finalise the agreement. Representing Nigeria was Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, while Mr. Hitoshi Kozaki stood in for Japan.
No long talk — this is about serious business.
This is beyond just a normal handshake in the name of “partnership.” The Japanese money is going into bricks, networks, and brains.
The Abuja innovation hub will rise as a central structure in Nigeria’s growing tech ecosystem, and it’s not just about the building — it’s about what’s going to happen inside it. Talent will be shaped. Ideas will be tested. Ventures will rise.
Over the next five years and eight months — from April 2025 until December 2030 — the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) will jointly steer the project. The goal is to get young Nigerians to create businesses that can scale beyond Nigeria and rival some of Africa’s top startups.
There’s a clear line from this project to the presidency. President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda has been flagged as the backdrop for this initiative, a comprehensive economic blueprint that leans on tech and private sector investment to drive job creation.
Kashifu Inuwa, director general of NITDA, pointed to earlier collaborations with JICA, particularly the iHatch incubation programme, which he described as a concrete example of results.
“We have been collaborating with them on so many initiatives like iHatch. The pilot we did resulted in creating over 117 direct jobs and more than 370 indirect jobs, and now we are working together with them to expand it to all 36 states and the FCT,” he said.
The iHatch programme offers six months of startup incubation, helping teams build real products using Japanese technical support. It’s the kind of targeted intervention that goes beyond workshops and buzzwords. Real ventures. Real jobs.
But it doesn’t stop there.
NITDA and JICA have also been connecting the dots between Nigerian and Japanese innovators. Startups are getting the chance to network, learn, and even showcase their products in Japan — a rare opening in a country where international exposure can be a game-changer.
Women aren’t being left out of the equation either. Last month, both agencies rolled out the “IgniteHer” Entrepreneurship Bootcamp — a five-day intensive in Abuja aimed at giving women founders the tools to break structural barriers and scale their businesses.
There’s a lot on the table. Money, mentorship, access, and infrastructure. What remains is execution.
