The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) remained dedicated to collaborating with pertinent partners and stakeholders in putting into action programs and initiatives that will foster youth entrepreneurship, accelerate innovation, and create the jobs that are desperately needed for our youth.
The Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, represented by the National Director of the National Centre for Artificial intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), Engr. Ya’u Garba gave the assurance on Tuesday during the Demo Day of the First Cohort of the Idea Hatch (iHatch) Startup Incubation Programme that took place at the e-Government Training Center, Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), Kubwa, Abuja
Kashifu reaffirmed NITDA’s commitment to enhancing incubation techniques that foster wealth creation and provide work prospects for our teeming youth population.
“Undoubtedly, this partnership is in furtherance to the commitment of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in sustaining the promotion and growth of digital innovation and entrepreneurship, derived from the seven (7) pillars of our Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) 2021-2024, on Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Promotion of Indigenous Content. This is to increase the number of Innovation-Driven Enterprises (IDEs) viz a viz sustaining the growth of Nigeria’s digital economy, Kashifu said.
He restated, “Flowing from this partnership, NITDA and JICA conceptualised and designed the iHatch, a 5-month free intensive incubation programme executed by the ONDI and hosted within the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR). Essentially, the programme is designed to help Nigerian entrepreneurs refine their business ideas through a series of coaching, lectures, and boot camps to generate scalable and adaptable business models in the country.
“It would interest you to know that over five thousand (5,000+) entries were received in the countdown to where we are today. The number was pruned down to 8 startups, comprising a Founder and Co-Founder for each startup, after undergoing two levels of rigorous selection process conducted by a panel of 10 judges, constituted of experts from diverse areas of technology and innovative entrepreneurship. The selection process assessed the startups’ ideas based on the criteria of profitability, scalability, social impact, idea technique, competitive advantage, experience, and a clearly defined future roadmap.
“In the course of the programme, the startups benefited from free virtual and physical interactive lectures with experienced mentors, free workspace, mentorship meetings with tech professionals, pitch deck enhancement, and networking opportunities. In the course of the programme, four (4) of the startups, that were initially not legally registered, successfully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) while work is in progress on the prototyping and Intellectual Property (IP) registration of their business ideas.
“Furthermore, today also marks the inauguration of the Second Cohort of the iHatch Incubation Programme. You may all recall that in June 2022, NITDA, through the ONDI, in partnership with JICA, opened the call for applications for the Second Cohort of the iHatch Programme. In a similar vein, over 1163 applications were received, and a rigorous selection process was conducted to assess the quality of applications and ensure the best-qualified startups are selected.
“This led to the selection of the top eight (8) startups, comprising 2 founders each that will be participating in the Second Cohort. It is noteworthy, that we have agreed with our partners, JICA, to extend the third cohort across the 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria. This will be done at the end of the Second Cohort, 5 months from now.
The DG said that the partnership with JICA in the implementation of the iHatch programme is part of NITDA’s initiatives to strengthen the tech and innovation ecosystem for the creation of more IDEs that will invariably contribute to the creation of jobs for our teeming youth and the prosperity of our country.
“According to Statista, Nigeria has an estimated 3,300 startups in 2020, which is the highest on the African continent. In the same vein, Nigerian startups have continued to attract more investments than other countries on the continent, with a number of the startups raising about USD$600 million in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022. The top ten startups that attracted the funding are Flutterwave ($250 million); Moove ($105 million); ThriveAgric ($56.4 million); Reliance Health ($40 million); Bamboo ($15 million); Credpal ($15 million); SeamlessHR ($10 million); DrugStoc ($4.4 million); Casava ($4 million) and Sudo Africa ($3.7 million).
“These indicate the vast potentials that abound within Nigeria’s tech and innovation ecosystem.
“Therefore, in many ways, the iHatch incubation programme will complement our efforts at implementing the Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Promotion of Indigenous Content pillars of our Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024) to achieve the broader objectives of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) and vision of creating a wider pool of IDEs that will guarantee sustainable economic growth and prosperity.
Kashifu was optimistic that the laudable and fruitful outcome of the iHatch Startup Incubation Programme would greatly inspire more organizations to work with NITDA to build and expand the indigenous tech innovation space not only for Nigeria’s economic wellbeing but also for Nigerians to become active players in the global economy. Kashifu congratulated the startups for their dedication to staying on course in this fruitful journey of economic progress and national development.
