The LIFC initiative aligns with Nigeria’s Agenda 2050 and the Lagos State Development Plan 2052, to deliver long-term economic prosperity, deepen financial markets, and attract productive global investment.

The project showcases the power of public-private partnership, bringing visionary leadership from the government together with private sector companies seeking to tap into Nigeria’s young, dynamic market to deliver economic growth.

The report was launched at an event at State House Marina with guests including Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, British Deputy High Commissioner Jonny Baxter, and EnterpriseNGR Board Chairman and CEO, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and Obi Ibekwe.

Key Highlights from the Report:

• Strategic Vision: The LIFC will support Nigeria’s ambition to become an upper-middle-income country by 2050, driving inclusive growth, reducing poverty, and creating high-value jobs, especially for Nigeria’s talented youth.
• International Collaboration: The report highlights the benefit of strong UK-Nigerian co-operation, building on best practices and global benchmarks to align the LIFC with international standards.
• Model Recommendation: The report recommends the development of an independent IFC model for Lagos, and the steps to achieve this. An IFC will deliver, regulatory clarity, simplified tax and policy settings and offer greater investor confidence and economic benefits for the wider Nigerian economy.
• Unique Selling Points: The LIFC should focus on areas which can deliver the greatest economic benefits matched to investor interest. Consultations have suggested three areas for its initial focus: Green and Sustainable Finance, FinTech & Innovation, and Commodities Trading & Capital Markets. These sectors are identified as key drivers for Nigeria’s future competitiveness and growth.
• Governance and Legal Reform: The report calls for robust legal and regulatory frameworks, an independent governance framework, and strong collaboration between Lagos State, Federal Government, and private sector stakeholders to drive the implementation of the IFC.
• Talent and Human Capital: A focus on developing domestic talent, easing visa regimes for international professionals, and building a pipeline of skilled workers will underpin the LIFC’s success.
• Tax and Incentives: Recommendations include competitive tax regimes, tailored incentives for investment that aligns to the national vision, and streamlined business processes to attract global capital.

On the report, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor, said, “Lagos is fully committed to the birth of the International Financial Centre. We know that it is a veritable means of supporting seamless trading and to enhance competitiveness of financial markets.

As Nigeria’s largest economic and financial centre, Lagos plays a critical role in driving the nation’s capital markets. We need to create an ecosystem that will help to facilitate investment flows, enhance market liquidity, and promote financial literacy.

“The LIFC initiative will not only strengthen our market infrastructure but also unlock new opportunities for public-private partnerships in technology and capital market development. It will support seamless trading, attract foreign investment and enhance competitiveness of financial markets.”

Jonny Baxter, British Deputy High Commissioner, commented; 

“The launch of the Lagos International Financial Centre report reflects the deepening of UK-Nigeria partnership, combining Lagos’s comparative strengths with UK expertise. Anchored in clear, evidence‑based analysis and launched at a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s reform journey, the LIFC has the potential to unlock major domestic and international investment, deepen capital markets, create jobs, and drive sustainable economic growth across the country, not just in Lagos State.”

Nicola Watkinson, managing director, International, TheCityUK,  said,

“Nigeria is a high-growth, dynamic and large market and the Lagos International Financial Centre could be vital to its future. By building a modern, integrated business and regulatory environment and financial ecosystem, the LIFC will support the attraction of global and domestic capital, deepen domestic markets, facilitate innovation in FinTech and green finance, and create high‑value jobs for Nigeria’s youth.

“Supporting the development of Lagos as an international financial centre is a clear example of how the UK and Nigeria are deepening their strategic partnership.”

Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest cashew producers of c. 250-300k tonnes of raw cashew nuts annually, yet currently less than 10 per cent are processed domestically.

Most raw nuts are exported unprocessed to Asian and other countries, forfeiting up to 80 per cent of their potential export value and adding exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations.

This additional plant will more than double Robust’s existing cashew processing capacity from 100 MT per day to 220 MT per day to help reduce this structural gap.

The new plant will be of extensive benefit to the local economy, with procurement of cashew nuts from c. 10,000 primarily low-income smallholder farmers.

There is an expected increase in export revenue (c. USD 335 million) and procurement from local supply chain over the lifetime of the guarantee.

Furthermore, the new plant will incorporate functionality to convert waste by-products into value-added biomass and biofuel inputs to enhance the environmental impact of the transaction.

It is anticipated that up to 900 jobs will be created, with as many as 78 per cent to be held by women. Robust also has a target to gradually increase the share of procurement from women farmers, from 15 per cent to 25 per cent by 2028, as it reaches new regions in Nigeria and extends its ongoing gender-responsive outreach programme for farmers.

The transaction is aligned to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 2 (Zero Hunger) and 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure).

The debt facility was provided by a Symbiotics-arranged bond platform, which in turn issued notes with the benefit of the GuarantCo guarantee.

These notes have been subscribed to in full by M&G Investments.

The transaction was executed in record time due to the successful replication of two recent transactions in Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, again in collaboration with M&G Investments and Symbiotics.

PIDG is funded by six governments: the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Sweden and Canada.

Commenting, Mr. Jonny Baxter, British Deputy High Commissioner, said:

“The UK is proud to support innovative financing that mobilises private capital into Nigeria’s productive economy through UK-backed institutions such as PIDG. By backing investment into local processing and value addition, this transaction supports jobs, exports and more resilient agricultural supply chains. Complementing this, through the UK-Nigeria Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnerships and the Developing Countries Trading Scheme, the UK is supporting Nigerian businesses to scale exports to the UK and beyond, demonstrating how UK-backed partnerships help firms grow and compete internationally.”

Dave Chalila, head of Africa and Middle East Investments at GuarantCo, said:

“This transaction marks GuarantCo’s third collaboration with M&G Investments and Symbiotics, emphasising our efforts to bring replicability to everything we do so that we accelerate socio-economic development where it matters most. The transaction is consistent with PIDG’s mandate to mobilise private capital into high impact, underfinanced sectors. In this case, crowding in institutional investors to the African agri-processing value chain.

“As with the two recent similarly structured transactions, funding is channelled through the Symbiotics institutional investor platform, with the notes externally rated by Fitch and benefiting from a rating uplift due to the GuarantCo guarantee.”

Vishanth Narayan, group executive director at Robust International Group, said:

“As a global leader in agricultural commodities, Robust International remains steadfast in its commitment to building resilient, ethical and value-adding supply chains across origin and destination markets. This transaction represents an important step in advancing our long-term strategy of strengthening processing capabilities, deepening engagement with farmers and enhancing local value addition in the regions where we operate. Through sustained investment, disciplined execution and decades of operating experience, we continue to focus on delivering reliable, high-quality products while fostering inclusive and sustainable economic growth.”

María Redondo, director at M&G Investments, said:

“We’re pleased to partner again with Symbiotics and GuarantCo on this innovative transaction. The guarantee gives us the assurance to invest in hard currency, emerging market debt while supporting Robust’s new cashew processing plant in Nigeria. It’s a clear example of how smart credit enhancement can unlock institutional capital for high impact development and manage currency and credit risks effectively. This is another strong step in channelling institutional capital into meaningful, on‑the‑ground growth.”

Valeria Berzunza, Structuring & Arranging at Symbiotics, said:

“This third collaboration reinforces the value of developing structured financial products through strategic partnerships to mobilise investment from institutional investors seeking exposure to highly rated securities, into high impact projects in emerging markets. We are pleased to continue our collaboration with M&G Investments, GuarantCo, and now with Robust through a transaction with a strong social and gender focus, demonstrating that well-structured products can boost commercially attractive, viable, and impactful investments.”

The event, taking place on Wednesday, October 9th, and Thursday, October 10th, 2024, at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos, Nigeria, will bring together some of the most audacious leaders in the global technology industry.

The conference is also introducing a new content track around Government, Policy & Regulation and will be hosting a roundtable on international trade.

Confirmed speakers for the roundtable include Wale Edun, minister of Finance and coordinating minister of the Economy of Nigeria, Dr. Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy of Nigeria, and Jonny Baxter, British deputy high commissioner. 

Other notable speakers expected are: Nankling Danfulani, Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FDCO); Michel Deelen, consul general of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Florent Mangin, head of Regional Economic Development, France; Augustina Odame, chief executive officer, Ghana Chamber of Technology; Sid Ali, CEO, Algeria Ventures, Sunil Natraj – CEO of Jumia Nigeria, and many other highly accomplished thought leaders.

With Africa’s share of global and intra-regional trade standing at 3% and 13% respectively, this pan-African ministerial roundtable will provide a platform for key trade stakeholders to exchange ideas, share best practices, and forge partnerships that will drive digital trade and economic integration focus. 

A fireside chat on “The Role of Technology in Driving the Growth of the Nigerian Economy” with Dr. Bosun Tijani and Wale Edun; as well as a Ministerial Roundtable with Dr. Bosun Tijani to discuss Nigeria’s digital economy landscape and the ministry’s blueprint, are also lined up.

Acknowledging the growing trend of African startups venturing into global markets, the theme for Moonshot by TechCabal 2024 is: Building for the World, which addresses the challenges and opportunities that African founders and operators face as they navigate the complexities of global expansion. 

Through this event, over 3,500 delegates will gain timely and practical insights from experienced global and African business leaders, who will share strategies for successfully building world-class ventures in various sectors from fintech to commerce, renewable energy, climate change, tech policy, AI, telco, cloud and more.

Headline sponsored by Sabi, a provider of digital commerce infrastructure for Africa, Moonshot is introducing three additional content tracks to the five tracks from last year: The Future of Commerce, Big Tech & Enterprise, Emerging Tech Fest, Startup Festival, and Creative Economy. These new tracks include:

• FUEL: The Investor Conference – Offering opportunities to understand the investment landscape in Nigeria and Africa, and connect with investors and high-quality startups.
• Government, Policy & Regulation Conference – this track will bring together ministers and their representatives from across the continent to discuss and agree on concrete policy actions that will drive the growth of the digital economy and foster trust and collaboration.
• Clean & Climate Tech – Focusing on Africa’s fast-growing climate tech industry and its opportunities. 

In addition, the two-day pan-African conference will introduce new formats, including demos and roundtables that showcase how innovative technology is tackling critical challenges. 

Attendees can also look forward to more investor engagement with sessions in the investor lounge and a dedicated area for startup pitches. 

Furthermore, expanded networking opportunities will be available through various social events, mixers, and off-conference gatherings designed to foster meaningful connections and collaborations.

Tomiwa Aladekomo, CEO of Big Cabal Media said “Africa’s vibrant tech ecosystem is breaking boundaries and redefining what is possible on the global stage. As we edge closer to this year’s Moonshot by TechCabal, we are focused on exploring critical questions about how Africa is building for the world and how we can leverage actionable policies to enhance the digital economy. 

“This conference will also shine a spotlight on the booming sectors, such as climate tech, which captured a third of last year’s startup funding – a clear signal of where the future is headed. 

“We’re eager to see the great impact of this gathering, where the continent’s most audacious minds and global actors will come together to drive the African tech ecosystem forward. The discussions and synergies that will take place at Moonshot have the potential to shape the future of African innovation on a global stage.”

TechCabal is a tech publication in Africa which provides reporting, data and context that help investors and professionals globally understand where African tech is and where it is going. 

The inaugural Moonshot event was held in October 2023 in Lagos, attracting over 2,600 attendees and 85 industry-leading speakers from across Africa and beyond. 

Highlights included the TC Battlefield competition, where a total of four million naira in cash prizes was awarded to the winner, truQ, and runner-up, Jamit. 

Additionally, Nigeria’s minister of communications Bosun Tijani unveiled his blueprint to train 3 million technical talents across the country in the next four years.

Speaking on the inspiration behind this year’s theme Muyiwa Olowogboyega, editor-in-chief of TechCabal, said, “Over the last decade, we’ve been at the heart of narrating African tech stories, documenting the challenges, grit, successes and failures. As African startups continue to expand globally, Moonshot is our way of bringing the ecosystem together to confront the complexities of global expansion. 

“The challenges of scaling innovation are universal, and we are committed to not only discuss this evolving disruption but also to present practical takeaways that will enable other players in the ecosystem to follow suit.”

Anu Adedoyin Adasolum, co-founder and CEO of Sabi, said “This year’s Moonshot conference will undoubtedly spur important ideas for how African technology companies can build and service the global markets. Sabi connects African markets with one another and the rest of the world, and we applaud any initiative that aims to strengthen African commerce by fostering innovation, collaboration, and sustainable growth across the continent.”

Moonshot by TechCabal is also sponsored by 54 Collective (Formerly Founder Factory Africa), Raenest, Sparkle, Quidax, Meta, Tramango, Budpay, Cardtonic, ZedCrest, Vendy, Heckerbella and Flutterwave, and is open to global and African VC investors, startup founders, top tech CEOs, industry professionals at all levels, students, and tech support organisations. 

Exhibitors will include the continent’s most innovative startups, leading enterprise companies, global tech giants, and a range of service providers. 

Sponsorship information or tickets to attend Moonshot can be accessed here.

The training facility was funded by the UK through its Ministry of Defence and built by a team of Royal Engineers from the British Army working alongside Nigerian Army Engineers.

The facility will make training more realistic for the soldiers and help prepare trainees to operate effectively during deployments.

Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, represented by Major General SG Mohammed, officially opened the training facility today in Ogun State, alongside the British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Mr. Jonny Baxter, and Brigadier Martin Leach from the UK’s Ministry of Defence.

Attendees also saw firsthand, a demonstration operation conducted by Nigerian Armed Forces.

The Deputy High Commissioner was subsequently briefed on the training display.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Mr. Jonny Baxter, deputy high commissioner, said:

The UK has deep interests in Nigeria’s development, security, and stability. We enjoy a long-standing security and defence relationship, underpinned by a shared desire to support regional and international peace and security. Our work with the Nigeria Armed Forces seeks to build capacity to address the root causes of insurgency and insecurity and support institutional modernisation and transformation.

“We provide substantial security and development support to Nigeria including capacity building assistance, training facilities and equipment. The British Government will continue to work with Nigeria to respond to the drivers of conflict – and all these engagements we hope, will lead to better security, stability, and enhanced growth partnerships for the good of both our countries.”

The Deputy High Commissioner also paid tribute to the significant sacrifices made by the Nigerian soldiers in working with their counterparts to bring peace and security to the region.

The UK Government’s investment in women in Nigeria has been described as the means to accelerating progress, considering that a recent USAID report indicates, 90% of jobs worldwide will have a digital component in the near future and without digital skills, women are automatically disadvantaged and do not have the confidence to participate in the digital workforce or the digital economy at large.

Speaking at International Women’s Day (IWD) Digihubs Awards held in Lagos on March 08, 2024, in Lagos, Jonny Baxter, British deputy high commissioner in Nigeria, pledged the commitment of the UK Government to close the digital divide in the country.

He said the Government has been a leading partner in working with the Nigerian people to close the digital gender divide in Nigeria.

Baxter said: “We have championed inclusion for women and girls into the digital economy through projects such as DigiGirls. This is because we know that the data says that inclusion leads to an increase in economic power.

“We know that women and girls are disproportionately impacted by climate change, natural disasters and conflict because they exacerbate existing inequality and barriers in accessing services and support.

“Yet women are critical front-line responders when crisis hits and are crucial voices in decision making processes – if given the space to be heard”.

He noted that, the participation of civil society groups, including women’s organisations, makes a peace agreement of 64% less likely to fail, and “we know that the benefit of reducing conflict in other countries is felt in many other countries of the world.

“Gender inequality is particularly entrenched for women and girls who face multiple-discrimination, because of their age, religion, disability, sexuality, race or other difference,” he added.

Mr. Baxter while reflecting on the Digital Access Programme in Nigeria expressed the UK’s commitment to being a global science and technology partner, working with others to develop solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges, including on digital skills.

He said the UK firmly believes in the future growth story of Nigeria’s digital sector. “To continue to drive this growth, Nigeria needs a combination of increased access to safe, affordable, faster and better-quality internet, an encouraging regulatory environment, a skilled talent pool, and access to investment and partnership opportunities.

“Our in-country digital strategy focuses on working with both the government and private sector to improve infrastructure, build cyber resilience, reduce barriers to digital innovation, drive the upskilling of a digital workforce and improve policy and regulatory frameworks.

“Through the Digital Access Programme, we work with the Federal Government, State governments and policy makers as well as the Private Sector on removing systemic barriers to connectivity expansion”.

One of such programmes is the DigiGirls programme where last year on International Women Day, the UK launched a 10-year Women and girls’ strategy which showcases its commitment to tackling gender inequality across the globe.

“The first two cohorts of the DigiGirls programme saw the training and upskilling of 6,800 women and girls. While that might look like a large number it was only 6.3% of the people that applied for the opportunity to be trained for free.

“For us, it felt like we needed to do more. We thought about how we could make this project reach more people and have a wider impact yet still be sustainable.  We then decided to experiment with using local technology hubs to deliver upskilling to women and girls. This would strengthen the hubs as well as provide a physical space where women and girls could learn undisturbed.

“Our experiment paid off and in this present phase of the project Cybersafe was able to train 59,900 women and girls. We did this with support of 200 volunteer Alumni DigiGirls called DigiChampions and a partnership with 60 hubs across 22 states in Nigeria.

“We believe that this programme has helped in addressing the digital inequality in Nigeria – and we will continue to support programmes like this,” he stated.

On her part, Mrs. Confidence Staveley, founder and executive director of CyberSafe Foundation highlighted education as the true means to getting more women into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and a door to innovation.

In her words, “Inclusion of women will not happen by chance, it will take intentional, tailored and targeted investment in women to accelerate progress that we so desperately need”.

Continuing Mrs. Staveley said, “Investing in women also includes not just investing in implementing impactful progranms like DigiGirls. We need to mainstream solutions through the vehicle of policy. We must mainstream digital skills especially for women in our school curriculums, we must address discrimination and gender-bias practices in hiring processes…making them illegal.

“We must take a stand on educating men, our allies on what the challenges are and getting them on our side of this war against exclusion.

“The lack of women’s inclusion in technology comes at a massive cost. Infact, women’s exclusion from the digital worid has shaved US$1 trillion from the gross domestic product of low- and middle-income countries in the last decade – a loss that will grow to US$1.5 trillion by 2025 without action according to a 2022 Gender Snapshot report.

“But today, we celebrate the resilience of women like Azeez Omowunmi, a DigiGirl in our third cohort, who faced the classic challenge of electricity blackouts and economic constraints. These blackouts were standing in the way of her enjoying the free training we provided directly to over 60,000 women in this cohort. Azeez found a clever way to navigate these challenges. She made the tough decision to spend all her weekends sleeping over in church where she will have access to electricity to charge her computing device, consume our on-demand learning content and do her assessments throughout the programmme.

“We celebrate our Digichampions who in true spirit of generosity and service that Women are known for, they are ach after getting trained by us, training 100 women each in their local community…creating an organic ripple effect of digital skills transfer

“We celebrate the nursing mothers at our hubs and our excellent hub partner in Kaduna who brought their children to the Hub so their gift of motherhood does not deny them the digital skills required for today’s technology driven workplace”.

IWD Digihubs Awards

Five hubs were recognized at the auspicious event among 60 of the hub partners, spread across the geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

Award Categories:

1. Mission Champion Award (A.K.A Overall Best Hub)

Award Recipient: Development Hub, Borno – Abbas Baba

The award recognized Development Hub with the highest retention rate and a strong commitment to the sustainability of the digital skills training for women in the long term.

“The hub implemented effective methods for monitoring progress and evaluating the impact of the training and has the highest number of graduating fellows”, the Cybersafe Foundation ED said.

2. Impact Amplifier Award

Award Recipient: Guru Innovation Hub, Cross River – Oyo Effiom

This awards Guru Innovation Hub that demonstrated a strong commitment to the vision and enrolled the greatest number of fellows. The nominated hub exceeded the number of enrollments they initially pledged.

3. Inclusive Excellence Champion Award

Award Recipient: NHub Incubator, Plateau – Shamsiyah Bashir

The award recognized the hub that has created the most supportive and inclusive learning environment for the participants.

According to the organisers, this hub implemented innovative and effective training methods to enhance the learning experience for the beneficiaries.

4. Community Engagement and Outreach Award

Award Recipient: Dignity International Consults, Imo – Ihemegbulem Chukwuebuka Gerald

“The award recognizes the hub that excelled in community engagement and outreach, reaching, and positively impacting a broad audience.

“”The nominated hub did this by opening two hubs for the training to enable them to reach more people”, Mrs. Staveley said.

5. Outstanding Community Impact Award (A.K.A Grassroot Empowerer Award)

Award Recipient: Jbest ICT, Kaduna – Anna Tanko (Female Led Hub)

This awards a hub in an underprivileged or severely disadvantaged neighborhood that has showcased remarkable achievements in fostering positive change within their local community.

“Their exceptional problem-solving abilities have been instrumental in ensuring that their community participates in the training”, she explained at the DigiGirls programme.

In Lagos, Jonny Baxter, deputy High Commissioner, hosted the Chevening newly returned 2022/2023 Nigerian scholars and fellows to a Welcome Home Reception after the successful completion of their programmes.

During their programmes, they had an amazing opportunity to develop their skills and build networks that will enable them to create positive lasting change in Nigeria and beyond.

Speaking at the reception, Jonny Baxter, the British Deputy High Commissioner, said:

“We take pride in welcoming back our Commonwealth and Chevening Scholars. Congratulations to each of you for successfully completing your studies, many with distinctions. I’m pleased that you’ve had the opportunity to study in the UK and have now returned with additional knowledge and skills to positively impact Nigeria. Aim for excellence and continue to uphold the values of both the UK and Nigeria through your remarkable achievements”.

Ebere Iwuagwu, a Commonwealth Fellow, who studied at the Lifegate Outreach Centre UK, said:

“I am an environmental advocate and love doing community advocacy. In the course of work, I discovered the paucity in access to energy and its impact in most communities particularly women and youths. The Commonwealth Fellowship afforded me the opportunity to learn about so many renewable options derived from natural resources such as solar and vegetable that can be adopted in these communities with less impact on the environment and human health.”

Jonathan Ayodele, a Chevening Scholar, who studied Cybersecurity at Cardiff University, UK, said:

“The Chevening scholarship not only provided me with world-class education but also invaluable networking opportunities with industry leaders, access to several opportunities in the UK tech sector, and a greatly expanded professional network which will serve as robust foundation for my transformative goals. I have plans to build a tech hub in Ikorodu Lagos, with a vision for Ikorodu to lead in technological innovation. My aim is to foster local talent, enhancing livelihoods and inspiring the next wave of Technology leaders. The proposed hub will catalyse economic empowerment by providing a platform for youth skills development, entrepreneurship, bridging the divide between local talent and international opportunities.”

Themed, “Innovating for the Future”, the Nigeria Innovation Summit showcased inspiring stories, initiatives, and collaborative efforts aimed at addressing some of Nigeria’s most pressing challenges. 

Sponsored by the visionary support of TotalEnergies, the programme’s partners included Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), CoinEx, CcHUB, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), TechEconomy, Technext, among others, surging with energy and promise.

Tony Ajah, the Programme Director of the Nigeria Innovation Summit, set the tone with welcome remarks. He emphasized the power of dialogue in driving change, stressing that talk, far from being cheap, is the precursor to transformative action. Strategic connections, he noted, are the linchpin to impactful collaborations, giving birth to a community of innovators across diverse sectors such as health, agriculture, education, and security.

“We bring people together for a forward thinking conversation. It begins with talking about it. If you want to address a problem, you must talk about it. 

People say talk is cheap, but talk is cheap only to people who do not have the capacity to make it happen. We talk about areas we want to improve, like the process that will reduce the traffic in Lagos for instance. 

The next is strategic connection, we align in our discussions and see how we can connect to see what we can give birth to and that will lead to strategic collaborations. That collaboration will help us form a community of like-minds who can identify problems in different sectors including health, agriculture, education, security and several areas where we see how to grow and sustain the mind that has started out  in solving the problems we have identified.”

The summit resonated with stories of resilience and ingenuity. Chukwuemeka George Eze, the tenacious mind behind Revive Earth, shared his journey of overcoming obstacles to create electric vehicles, inspired by the spirit of giants like Tesla. Gbenga Sesan, the founder of Paradigm Initiative, ignited the audience with his call for youth to seize digital opportunities, urging them to carve their own paths amid challenges.

The imperative intersection of technology and agriculture found a voice in Ibrahim Maigari Ahmadu, Founder/CEO of RiceAfrika Technologies. Ahmadu revealed the stark realities faced by smallholder farmers in Nigeria and unveiled transformative solutions, emphasizing that Africa’s agricultural revolution lies in investment, not aid.

He outlined key necessities such as land preparation equipment, high-yielding seeds, and structured markets. Ahmadu’s innovative approach focused on community agency networks, unlearning/relearning, incentivization, and adoption, creating a significant impact on agricultural productivity.

Dr. Funmi Adewara, the Founder/CEO of Mobihealth International, illuminated the summit with her vision to enhance medical accessibility. Her company, founded in Nigeria and embraced globally, stands as a pioneer of affordable healthcare solutions. The company pioneered affordable medical insurance, ensuring that individuals can access healthcare services. MobiHealth’s success story highlighted the power of innovative solutions in addressing healthcare disparities.

Orok Godspower, CoinEx Nigeria Partner/Country Manager, unveiled the future of payments, simplifying the complexities of blockchain and championing a fraud-free digital landscape.

He emphasized the role of education in reducing the risks associated with blockchain, ensuring a seamless and secure experience. CoinEx Nigeria’s approach highlighted the transformative potential of digital assets in shaping the future of payments.

Jonny Baxter, the insightful British Deputy High Commissioner, highlighted the essence of partnerships in shaping future economies. His words resonated with the attendees, highlighting the need for collective efforts to streamline processes and drive sustainable growth in Nigeria.

Amidst the vibrant discussions and innovative fervor, the Nigeria Innovation Summit left a memorable mark, not merely as an event but as a force behind the nation’s persistent spirit to innovate, collaborate, and lead in shaping a progressive future.

As Nigeria embraces innovation, partnerships, and education, the nation is set to create a future where creativity and technology converge to drive progress and prosperity for all. This summit not only celebrated innovation but also ignited a spark for a brighter, more innovative future for Nigeria.