Adeboye Oluwagbemiga, a 500-level student in Agricultural and Bio-Resources Engineering, has developed a hybrid drying system designed to tackle post-harvest losses, one of agriculture’s most persistent challenges in Africa.

From FUNAAB Campus Idea to Global Recognition

Adeboye’s journey into innovation began with a training programme at the 720 Degree Innovation Hub, where he gained the skills to transform ideas into practical solutions.

His breakthrough came in late 2025 when he presented his project, HybriDry, at a university innovation showcase.

The solution quickly gained attention for its relevance and scalability, earning him a place among finalists in the Global Sustainability Challenge, where he will represent Nigeria in Germany in April 2026.

The Innovation: HybriDry

HybriDry is a solar-biomass hybrid drying system designed to preserve agricultural produce in environments with unreliable electricity.

The system combines solar energy with biogas generated from agricultural and household waste, including animal droppings.

By offering a low-cost and sustainable drying method, the innovation addresses critical issues such as: post-harvest losses; energy scarcity in rural communities, and environmental sustainability.

Built with an initial grant of ₦200,000, the prototype demonstrates how locally driven innovation can deliver practical solutions to real-world problems.

Scaling Through Opportunity

Beyond the global competition, Adeboye has also been selected as one of 65 finalists from over 30,000 applicants in Nigeria’s Student Venture Capital Grant programme, an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education aimed at supporting student-led startups.

The next phase of the programme, scheduled to take place in Lagos, could provide funding to scale HybriDry for wider adoption across farming communities.

Bridging Engineering and Impact

Adeboye combines technical expertise with practical application, using tools such as AutoCAD, Revit, and SolidWorks alongside hands-on fabrication skills. His ability to move from design to execution has been key to the development of his prototype.

Beyond engineering, he leads ECOSYNERGY, a student-driven sustainability initiative, and remains active in community and leadership roles, reflecting a blend of technical innovation and social impact.

Global Relevance of Local Innovation

His work has already earned recognition, including Best Pitch Prototype at the FUNAAB Career Fair and participation in a Stanford University-affiliated sustainability challenge.

At its core, HybriDry is designed to address the challenges faced by smallholder farmers, who often lose a significant portion of their harvest due to inadequate preservation systems.

By aligning with global sustainability priorities such as clean energy, climate action, and responsible consumption, the innovation positions Nigeria within the broader conversation on the future of food systems.

As Adeboye prepares to showcase his innovation in Germany, his journey reflects a broader shift in Africa’s innovation landscape, where local ideas are gaining global relevance.

His story underscores a growing reality: impactful solutions to global challenges are increasingly emerging from African campuses, driven by resilience, creativity, and a commitment to solving real problems.

He was celebrated by FUNAAB for the global innovation fit.

More than just a volume to be stored, it represents the engine of innovation and growth. However, faced with exponential growth in volumes, its management is becoming a major challenge for companies.

The ability to fully exploit this data depends on high-performance storage infrastructures adapted to new analytical and AI needs.

A world overwhelmed by data

The amount of data created, consumed, and stored globally continues to grow, and projections estimate that it will reach more than 394 zettabytes in the coming years.

This explosion, fueled by the diversification of sources, the proliferation of connected sensors and increasing automation, is disrupting companies.

The acceleration of the development of new generations of artificial intelligence, whether advanced models or the emergence of AI agents capable of processing complex tasks autonomously, reinforces this trend.

These technological developments multiply the volumes of data to be processed and require increasingly robust and efficient storage infrastructures.

Efficient storage to fully exploit the AI data cycle

In the AI data lifecycle, every step – from initial archiving to the generation of new content – depends on the quality of the storage.

Organizations need high-performance storage solutions to ensure rapid ingestion, efficient transformation, and seamless access to data.

Without this solid foundation, AI models cannot operate at full potential, slowing down the innovation process and limiting value creation.

Storing data no longer means simply keeping it. Today, it’s about making it accessible in real-time to feed AI algorithms, develop inference systems, and ensure decision-making based on actionable insights.

In addition, the processing speed and scalability of storage systems must adjust to the new needs of organizations in terms of analytics and machine learning.

Towards a flexible and sustainable approach to storage

The challenge for organizations is to find the right balance between on-premises and cloud storage, opting for hybrid solutions that meet security, flexibility, and cost requirements at the same time.

This hybrid approach allows you to benefit from the responsiveness of cloud solutions while maintaining direct control over sensitive data.

In addition, companies need to anticipate the future by adopting more sustainable technologies, such as high-capacity drives and advanced cooling systems, that reduce carbon footprint while optimizing performance.

Rethinking our storage strategies is a pressing necessity. Securing and preserving data should not only be viewed from the perspective of protection against threats, but also as a real lever for value creation.

Only by putting in place the right infrastructure and taking a long-term view can companies fully capitalize on this resource that is essential to their future.

Investing in mission-critical storage solutions is the key to effective management and preparing businesses for the challenges of tomorrow.

According to market research firm IDC, cloud adoption in South Africa is growing rapidly, with organisations in the country increasingly embracing hybrid cloud and multi-cloud.

Offering the best of both worlds, a hybrid cloud solution means an organisation uses a mix of on-premises, public cloud, and private cloud infrastructure, while multi-cloud refers to the way organisations use multiple cloud providers for more than one cloud deployment of the same type – for instance, if they use public clouds from two different vendors.

This means that certain data, applications, and services within an organisation may be hosted internally in a private cloud environment, while others are situated in a public cloud managed by a third-party provider.

Furthermore, certain data and applications may reside on physical servers located within the organisation’s premises.

In 2021, the global hybrid cloud market was valued at $85 billion, and it is expected to reach $262 billion in 2027.

With the rise of hybrid cloud adoption, organisations need to tread carefully in order to reap the desired benefits.

Managing hybrid cloud environments effectively requires careful planning, robust tools and processes, and a well-thought-out strategy.

This is mainly because while hybrid cloud environments offer many benefits, such as flexibility and scalability, they also come with their own set of challenges.

Security

Security and compliance are some of the major issues when it comes to hybrid cloud management. When applications are deployed across multiple cloud environments, they must establish connections to interact and exchange data.

Consequently, ensuring the security and encryption of traffic between these clouds is imperative.

Hybrid clouds also introduce additional security concerns.

Data and applications may be distributed across various environments, making it challenging to maintain consistent security controls and access policies. Compliance with industry regulations can also become more complex.

Creating an end-to-end secure connection between multiple cloud infrastructures becomes challenging, primarily when the networking models differ.

Oftentimes, the security features of each cloud offering focus on protecting their services and infrastructure.

Also, at times, organisations assume that their cloud service provider will take care of all facets of cloud security and believe that once the service is operational, there won’t be a necessity to further safeguard their cloud environment.

Cloud security is a shared responsibility between all the parties involved and organisations must be cognisant of the fact that securing a hybrid cloud environment is essential to protect data, applications, and resources distributed across both on-premises and public cloud platforms.

“Remember that security is an ongoing process, and it’s important to adapt your security measures as your hybrid cloud environment evolves and as new threats emerge. Remember to regularly review and update your security strategy to address changing needs and risks,” comments, Dr Karen Luyt, Expert Solution Architect at BCX.

Data and Resource Integration

Managing a hybrid environment can be complex due to the need to integrate and coordinate resources across on-premises infrastructure and multiple cloud providers.

Data integration is a hiccup organisations face in a hybrid cloud environment. Ensuring seamless data integration and consistency between on-premises and cloud environments can be challenging.

This is primarily because data may need to be transferred, transformed, and synchronised between different locations, which can introduce latency and potential data inconsistencies.

This integration is essential for achieving seamless data access, sharing, and analysis in a hybrid cloud setup.

Cost Management

Additionally, cost management can be challenging in hybrid cloud environments, as it is important to track and optimise expenses across multiple platforms and providers. Without proper monitoring and governance, costs can quickly escalate.

“Cost management in a hybrid cloud environment is crucial to optimise spending while maintaining the benefits of both on-premises and cloud infrastructure,” Luyt adds.

“Effective cost management in a hybrid cloud environment requires a combination of tools, policies, and best practices applied through coded algorithms. Regularly review and adjust your cloud environments to ensure you are optimising your costs while meeting your organisation’s performance and scalability requirements.”

Skills

Managing a hybrid cloud environment often requires a mix of skills in cloud technologies, on-premises infrastructure, and hybrid cloud management tools. Finding and retaining staff with the necessary expertise can be challenging for organisations.

“Overall, skills are the foundation for successfully managing a hybrid cloud environment. They enable organisations to harness the benefits of both on-premises and cloud infrastructure while effectively addressing the unique challenges and complexities that hybrid environments present,” she notes.

In Closing

“Effectively managing a hybrid cloud environment offers organisations the agility, scalability, cost control, and security needed to meet modern IT challenges while leveraging the strengths of both on-premises and cloud resources,” concludes Luyt.

Many business leaders are turning to IT solutions to ensure their businesses and staff have the capabilities to thrive amid numerous challenges.

The Rise of the IT  

Insecurity remains the main inhibition to hybrid and remote work. Considering this, traditional methods employed by IT departments to manage and maintain networked PCs and other devices for ensuring functionality and safeguarding against cyber threats are proving to be less adaptable and proactive than needed for the demands of hybrid work.

What used to be considered reliable procedures for office device maintenance and issue reporting in the “old ways” are now relatively slow and lacking in proactivity.

Conventional solutions like VPN networks are being overused and have consequently become less reliable and less stable.

Six Signs You Might Need a VPN for Secure Online Activities

Believe it or not, many a time, rudimentary chores such as acquiring the precise equipment is slow and difficult, with PC installations and placement naturally a lengthy and physical procedure, in addition to the planning needed to secure and mount newly installed PCs to the various locations they are used from.

Arbitrary workstations and processes pose an equally alarming security risk, leading to increased vulnerabilities amid growing daily concerns.

Malicious actors exploit an organization’s weakened defenses outside their security networks, while the installation of reinforcements and software updates becomes progressively more challenging.

Many organizations’ IT departments are ill-prepared to manage a dispersed workforce operating from various locations. Contemporary work models demand current technologies.

Flexibility is Key 

What employees want are tools that allow them to work from their preferred locations while upholding seamless connectivity with their coworkers. Similarly, employees wish to have a say in selecting the devices that align with their work style and, naturally, cater to their job’s requisites and duties.

Organizations must embrace this flexible work approach. In the post-COVID-19 era, companies are expected to encounter a growing array of external factors beyond their control. Hence, an adaptable approach to operational work models, supported by a cloud-based, modern IT infrastructure, becomes imperative.

This means that a change to a safer, automated, up-to-date cloud-based IT systems is not voluntary but mandatory.

According to research conducted by Forrester Consulting in 2020, about 86% of businesses now have up-to-date IT management strategy in place.

In Nigeria, most businesses are adopting cloud services to modernize their operations, improve efficiency, and enhance customer experiences at a global scale.

A report by the International Data Corporation (IDC) reveals that the adoption of cloud computing in the country has been increasing steadily, with spending on cloud expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 35.9% from 2019 to 2024.

Think of having all your staff working quicker with bespoke, cloud-ready PCs that came with each worker’s applications, settings, cloud registration and enrollment included, something similar to equipping a brand-new smart phone with the latest apps. Rather than being reactive in trying to fix an employee’s system that can make him redundant for several days, an up-to-date management solution enables the IT unit to preemptively resolve possible problems without even knowing that such exist.

With IT safety procedures becoming tougher to carry through as workplaces multiply, a long-lasting safety procedure established on zero-trust philosophy and a more vibrant, cloud-based design that guarantee appropriate and dependable patch management are now more critical than ever before, if we are to prevent staff exasperation and possibly costly data and monetary losses.

Future-proof tools and strategy 

With comprehensive data from the world’s major telemetry catalogue of more than 26 million devices, HP gathers practical insights on how best to assist workers, no matter where they are and the way they work.

This helps businesses eliminate speculations and conjectures when applying and bolstering the shift from conventional IT methods to unified, staff-driven, cloud-first infrastructures.

We are talking of bespoke safe, dependable, instinctive computing experiences for hybrid or remote work that can develop with the technology needs of the future.

Cloud-backed digital tools like the HP Proactive Insights help businesses collect performance and usage telemetry data from both applications and devices, as well as gauge staff opinion, thus assisting executives keep a tab on workers’ feelings without having to go from one office to another. This helps in guaranteeing a more efficient work atmosphere, greater staff interaction, and improved output.

In 2021, HP launched its latest insight-driven services for the Nigerian market to help IT teams in the country rise to the challenges that organisations are facing.

Some of the services include the HP Active Care for proactive device support and maintenance; HP Proactive Insights for intelligent fleet monitoring; and HP Proactive Endpoint Management for multi-OS, endpoint management.

The coming years will be a phase of redefining and reshaping the landscape of work and life.

Our diverse IT departments will remain at the core of our organizations, enabling the flexibility and capabilities that employees and organizations need to thrive in the evolving landscape of hybrid work.

Alternative work model, better known as hybrid work or remote work, is fast becoming essential to every business’ survival and continuity post COVID-19.

The acceptance and sustainability of this model is corroborated by a Microsoft 2022 Work Trend Index Report which found that the new work model is still gaining traction as hybrid employees, representing 51% of the workforce, are considering a switch to remote work, while 57% of remote employees are considering a switch to hybrid working models in the years ahead. 

In Nigeria, the emergence of remote, hybrid, and virtual work models have now become sustainable alternatives to the age-long in-office system. The trend is expected to gain more traction with the current economic realities occasioned by the removal of subsidy on fuel, as more and more employers and employees now see flexible models as the future of work, even though most businesses and lifestyles have returned to pre-pandemic status quo.  

According to a Gallup Survey in June 2022, 8 in 10 people are working hybrid or remote, thus demonstrating the enormous pickup of this flexible workplace approach.

This is further buttressed by FlexJobs.com’s Employee Engagement Report, showing 48% of companies are retaining some form of remote work for their workforce. 26% of survey respondents also opined that their employer would follow a hybrid model, and 22% said they’ll be allowed to work remotely when asked about their company’s post-pandemic workplace plans.

So, whilst employees are keen on remote or hybrid work, institutions worldwide are now realising that positive job output is not dependent on being physically present in the office. 

This paradigm shift to the new ways of work is again attested to by the ‘Africa: willingness to remote work by country 2020’ published by Statista earlier this year.

The study reveals that 74% of Nigeria’s working population who participated in the survey would work remotely for an employer with no physical presence in their country. Interestingly, same goes for other employees across Africa, with Benin Republic at 82%, and Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire – each at 80%. In South Africa, 73% of the respondents were of the same opinion. 

The public sector is not left out in this work shift as states like Edo, Kwara, and Kaduna have in addition to providing interventions to cushion the biting effects of the hike in cost of living hinged on increasing petrol prices, have declared flexible work models of three and four working days in a week for staff. The implication here is business continuity. Simple! Regardless, this can only be made possible with good deployment and application of digi-tech devices for seamless output.  

At HP, this flexible work model typifies the way to work now. With a vision to create technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere, HP is deepening the flexible work concept for more optimized productivity. All that is needed on the part of employees to make it work is to find a balance with working offsite full-time, while still maintaining and building relationships with customers, partners, teams, and ultimately, family. This is most significant, just as communication is important to keep relationships growing regardless of today’s realities which are now virtual.  

So, in essence, technology has a huge role to play in the way we work going forward. It’s now a Zoom or Teams world. With an HP laptop, Poly headphones, a portable bouquet of flowers, sticky notes, and a clean and modest looking table – all preforming sundry critical functions for a fit-to-purpose and tranquil workspace, you are up for a new normal of work productivity. 

Important hybrid work tips 

First, due to the high number of virtual meetings, it is vital to make sure your meetings are short, fruitful and engaging. You must ensure you have an agenda that is simple and brief. Even more important, one must be attentive and meticulous if you’re to achieve your set objectives.  

Secondly, hybrid work employees also have to find ways to balance their home-office routines. For instance, my HP Elite Dragonfly is as much a companion to me in my home workspace, traditional office space as well as on my trips to partners or customers in the busy Lagos traffic. In my morning exercise routine, our Poly headphones seamlessly connect to my device and sync up with my favourite playlist, which also enables me to make and receive critical work calls as necessary.

This way I am able to work and take care of my body simultaneously thus improving my mental well-being. In addition to this, it is equally important to go outdoors and take in the scenery, weather permitting, as this helps put you in the right frame of mind. This really helps than sitting at home all day.  

Finally, find something that makes you happy or gets you inspired. For some, it is a picture frame of their kids, wife, husband or family – a constant reminder of why we do what we do every day. For others, Asake’s ‘Lonely at the top’ or a tune or two from Burnaboy’s or Wizkid’s eclectic collections will get their inspiration juices flowing. For some still, it could be watching the sun rise every day to reset or refresh their mindset.  

Whatever it is, the fact is that the future of work is hybrid, and it is here to stay. We just have to find the best way to make it work for organisations, as employers and as employees.