Presented in Lagos at the UNDP Innovation Hub in Ikoyi, where officials handed cheques to the beneficiaries on Sunday, the funding falls under the Student Venture Capital Grant (SVCG), a scheme designed to back student-led businesses with equity-free funding.

The 45 winners emerged from a shortlist of 65 finalists who had earlier taken part in a three-week bootcamp. In total, more than 30,000 students from over 400 institutions applied in the first round.

Each beneficiary can access up to N50 million without giving up ownership of their ideas. Beyond the money, the programme also provides mentorship, incubation support and tools to help validate and grow early-stage ventures.

The University of Lagos produced the highest number of winners, with eight students receiving N50 million each. Others came from the University of Ilorin, the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Lagos State University and Bayero University, Kano.

Most of the selected projects are built around artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. They are aimed at solving problems in areas such as health, education and access to services.

Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, used the event to push for a change in how universities operate. He said institutions must move beyond theory and focus on practical innovation.

He said, “For too long, our tertiary institutions have been seen primarily as centres for certification. But under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, we are redefining that narrative.

“Our institutions must now become centres of innovation, engines of enterprise and launchpads for global solutions.”

He also made it known that the programme is meant to unlock ideas that often remain unused in classrooms.

“Now, our students will not only learn, but they will create knowledge. Now, students will not only acquire theoretical understanding, but they will also operate at the highest levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, applying transformative critical thinking and research skills to advance the frontiers of knowledge and solve real societal problems.

“Not only will they create new solutions, but through upscaling and commercialisation, they will transform these innovations into vehicles for sustainable growth and economic development, with catalytic impact on improving the health and wealth of Nigerians.”

Alausa urged students to think beyond profit in the early stages and focus on building solutions that matter.

“This initiative is not only about individual success, it is about national transformation.

“The SVCG scheme will strengthen Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem across universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, build a pipeline of young entrepreneurs and job creators.

“It will also position Nigeria as a hub for deep-tech and innovation-driven growth. This is how nations rise, not by consuming ideas, but by creating them.”

He added that the government may increase funding in future rounds if the first set of projects delivers measurable results.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, told the students to stay committed to their ideas, even when things go wrong. He urged them to keep improving their work and build solutions that can scale.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Muntari Dandutse, also spoke on the need to connect classroom learning with real-world application. 

He said the Senate supports programmes that encourage entrepreneurship and practical skills.

Programme coordinator, Adebayo Adebajo, said the next phase will be much bigger. According to him, the government is targeting up to 200,000 applications.

The SVCG scheme is part of a plan to turn Nigerian campuses into centres of innovation. It also aligns with initiatives to build a steady pipeline of young entrepreneurs and support the growth of technology-driven businesses across the country.

The deal, announced Thursday, aims to sharpen how Andela identifies and deploys engineers who can deliver on AI projects at scale.

“With Woven, Andela is leapfrogging the development of world-class assessments for both AI fluency and engineering fundamentals,” said Barun Singh, Andela’s chief product and technology officer.

The acquisition will enable Andela to meet the high demand for AI-native engineers, professionals who not only experiment with AI but also build, integrate, and scale AI systems. 

Andela describes three critical archetypes for enterprises, including builders, integrators, and scalers. Builders turn business needs into functional AI components. Integrators connect models, data, and tools into autonomous workflows. 

Scalers manage reliability, governance, and risk in deployed AI systems. Woven’s technology will now allow Andela to assess engineers accurately across all three roles, helping companies hire the right talent for each stage of AI adoption.

“To power the AI ecosystem at scale, the world needs AI-native, enterprise-ready engineering talent en masse. Andela plus Woven equals the best technical assessment engine in the world to ensure AI fluency and real-world job success,” said Carrol Chang, Andela’s CEO.

As part of the integration, Woven’s founder and CEO, Wes Winham Winler, will join Andela to lead next-generation assessments focused on AI-assisted software development and AI system creation. 

The company will also gain access to Woven’s library of engineering scenarios, AI-driven scoring systems, and the team’s domain expertise to accelerate its roadmap.

Andela’s platform already connects more than 150,000 technology professionals worldwide. With Woven’s capabilities built on top of Andela’s previously acquired Qualified platform, the company now has a unified system for scalable, high-accuracy engineering assessments.

This is the third major Nigerian startup acquisition this month. Earlier in January, Flutterwave bought Mono, an open banking startup, while Paystack acquired Ladder Microfinance Bank, revealing a trend of consolidation and expansion in Nigeria’s tech sector.

Andela wants to become the global hub for AI-native engineering talent, combining deep assessment strength with a large, verified talent network to ensure engineers are both skilled and ready for real-world AI challenges.

Located in the Alaro City corridor, Itana aims to become Africa’s first fully digital economic zone.

I believe this project brings one of the clearest windows into how Nigeria might re-imagine its economic model for the next decade. 

But for real, will it become a measurable impact? This piece examines how Itana works, why it’s important, what stands in its way, and what it means for investors, policymakers and Nigeria’s broader tech ecosystem.

Nigeria’s Tech & Investment Space

Nigeria is home to one of Africa’s largest technology markets. Its fintech sector in particular has produced global-recognised firms and attracts a disproportionate share of Africa-bound venture capital.

But the country still faces structural limitations including power outages, foreign-exchange instability, regulatory uncertainty and infrastructure gaps. 

In the free-zone space, Nigeria already has numerous industrial‐ or manufacturing-oriented zones under the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) framework, more than 44 zones licensed under its regulations as of 2022. 

The typical free-zone model in Nigeria has been rooted in export manufacturing, not digital services. This leaves a gap, even with software, remote work, digital trade and services having the upper hand in the country, Nigeria still risks being left behind unless it adapts.

What Itana Is – Vision, Model, Mechanics

Itana has been built as the first digital free zone in Nigeria, and arguably in Africa. It uses Nigeria’s existing free-zone laws, rather than waiting for entirely new legislation, to launch a business jurisdiction tailored to digital, tech and services companies. 

Key features include:

• A 72,000 m² initial district in Alaro City, Lagos State’s Lekki Free Zone corridor, with mixed-use physical infrastructure: campus, co-living, outdoor work areas, biking trails, reliable power, fibre-optic internet, piped gas and clean water. 
• Incorporation and operations entirely digital: a business can be registered remotely (from Nairobi, London or Yaba) with a fee of $2,000 initial and $1,150 annual renewal, which covers business address, document handling and collaborative space access.
• Regulatory and operational incentives: tax advantages for eligible businesses, ability to operate in foreign currencies (USD, GBP, EUR, etc.), no expatriate quotas for work/residency in the zone, full foreign ownership permitted.
• Strong institutional backing: a partnership with the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) that committed $100 million to phase one of the development. 
• Government engagement: in mid-2025, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment pledged to support Itana’s mission to create 100,000 high-value jobs over five years.
  In short: Itana cannot just be described as a piece of land, but a package of infrastructure + regulation + ecosystem for digital/tech services. I view it as a kind of jurisdictional innovation experiment: can Nigeria create a “digital enclave” that is globally competitive?

Why It’s Important: Opportunity & Value Proposition

For global digital businesses, Itana provides a great value proposition: a gateway into Africa with streamlined incorporation, tax/operational incentives, and access to Nigeria’s large market (and by extension, continental reach). 

In other words, less friction to set up and scale from Nigeria. For Nigeria and Africa, Itana offers three major benefits:

• FDI attraction & talent retention – In offering a globally competitive jurisdiction, it may pull in foreign capital and keep diaspora talent or local entrepreneurs from exiting.
• Leap-frogging infrastructure/regulation – Rather than upgrading every regulatory detail nationwide, Nigeria can pilot a high-standards zone. If successful, the model may diffuse.
• Pan-African hub leverage – With the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and rising digital services export potential, Nigeria could become a base for cross-border digital services. Analysts note that the shift from manufacturing to services is already overdue in Africa. 

From a strategic viewpoint: if Nigeria wants to pivot from being resource- and manufacturing-centric to services/digital-first, this project is indispensable.

The Risks, Limitations & Questions

No innovation of this scale is free from challenge. I flag several key issues:

• Governance and institutional risk – Even if Itana has its own brand of regulatory ease, it still sits within the bigger Nigerian context: currency risk, political risk, legal enforcement uncertainties. For a global firm, the question is whether the zone’s insulation is real.
• Equity and local integration – Will Itana become an isolated “digital enclave” benefiting only a few, without broad spill-over into the local economy? Are local businesses, workers and talent benefiting? If not, the model may aggravate inequalities.
• Infrastructure delivery – Promises of 24/7 power, dual fibre-optics, piped gas hinge on execution. If the physical layer falters, then the “digital zone” becomes less credible.
• Scalability and replicability – Can the model scale beyond Lagos, and can the regulatory/incentive model survive as more firms come in? There is the risk of rent-seeking, of incentives being watered down, or of the zone attracting “low-value” service firms rather than high-impact innovators.
• External competition and global positioning – Other African countries may seek to offer similar zones. Nigeria must maintain its competitive edge on cost, regulation, talent and infrastructure. If not, Itana may lose out.
• Capital repatriation/FX risk – One of the underlying advantages promised is multi-currency operations and capital movement. But Nigeria’s foreign-exchange regime is still complex, which could undermine this promise.

Implications for Policy, Investors & Ecosystem

For Government and Regulators:

• Must treat Itana not just as a real-estate or tech project but as a regulatory laboratory: immigration, taxation, labour laws, data protection, foreign ownership must align and be stable.
• Should think about integration: how to ensure spill-overs into the wider Nigerian economy, and that the zone doesn’t remain an island.
• Must monitor and report key metrics: jobs created, foreign capital inflow, exports of digital services, and local talent retention.

For Investors & Startups:

• Should assess jurisdictional risk carefully: what is the legal anchor of Itana’s incentives? Are they protected?
• Look at ecosystem strength: beyond infrastructure, what is the talent pool, what are the anchor companies, what’s the exit environment?
• Be aware of cost-benefit: Are the incentives meaningful compared to operating locally or in other jurisdictions?

For the Tech & Talent Ecosystem:

• Nigerian startups should view Itana as potential infrastructure, but not accept it as a replacement for building local capacity and networks.
• Universities, incubators and talent pipelines must feed into this model; otherwise, the zone may import talent rather than develop it locally.
• Digital services export must be pushed: the opportunity is not just in doing business in Nigeria, but serving global clients from Nigeria/Africa.

Comparative Models & Lessons from Abroad

Let’s briefly compare:

• Dubai Internet City (DIFC) – Offers streamlined regulation, physical infrastructure, regional hub status; success was aided by global connectivity and elite infrastructure.
• e‑Estonia – A micro-state digital-first model with e-residency, global incorporation, but benefiting from high institutional trust and digital culture.
• Delaware (USA) – Legal/regulatory jurisdiction favourable to incorporation, low tax burden, strong rule of law. 

The context matters hugely. Singapore, Dubai succeeded in part because they had stable institutions, strong enforcement, legal clarity. Nigeria doesn’t start from that level entirely, so the risk of “free zone in name only” is real. The success of Itana will depend heavily on execution, transparency, and legitimacy.

Roadmap & What to Watch

Key milestones and indicators:

• Completion of the physical campus: the 72,000 m² first district must be built and operational with promised infrastructure (power, connectivity) as of phase one. 
• Number of companies incorporated in Itana: especially foreign/foreign-founded service firms, and the volume of business they conduct from the zone. For example, “more than 70% of companies within Itana’s zone are diaspora-owned or foreign startups.” 
• Job creation outcome: the government-Itana MOU targets 100,000 high-value jobs over five years.
• Export of digital services: growth in services sold from Nigeria/Africa to global markets mediated via the zone.
• Spill-over metrics: talent retention, local start-ups using the infrastructure, integration with local industry, and whether tax incentives and regulatory clarity persist over time.
• Potential derailers: delayed infrastructure, policy reversals, changes in foreign-exchange regime, corruption or governance issues. 

If I were writing this article six months later, I’d look to these indicators to judge whether Itana is just a promising pilot or truly a transformational model for digital economies in Africa.

Itana has come at a sensitive moment for Nigeria and for Africa’s digital economy. It offers a path where regulatory limitations, infrastructure gaps and global competition are tackled through a purpose-built digital free zone. 

The opportunity is real, for foreign firms, for Nigerian talent, and for a continent seeking to leap ahead in services and tech rather than being stuck in resource-or manufacturing-led models.

But the goal will only be realised if execution matches ambition. I remain cautiously optimistic. If Itana successfully delivers on infrastructure, regulation, talent and integration, it could become a gateway for Africa’s sustainable digital growth. 

If it fails, it could become another isolated enclave, admired but limited in impact