The Nigeria Innovation Summit 2023 which was held on October 6th, 2023 with the theme: Innovating for the Future, was successfully concluded with the participation of delegates and stakeholders across the globe, who participated in the hybrid event.
The Summit in its 8th year is an annual event that brings together stakeholders from different sectors of Nigeria’s economy, governments, investors, policymakers, and players in the tech and innovation ecosystem to discuss ground-breaking ideas, trends, and opportunities to innovate solutions that solve unique challenges within Nigeria, and the African continent at large.
This year’s NIS explored topics such as Digital Opportunities for African Youths in Today’s World; Fostering a Thriving Startup Ecosystem through Partnerships and Collaboration; Digitization and the Future of Business; Transforming Industries of the Future through AI & Emerging Techs; Digital Assets & Future of Payments, among others.
The highlights of the summit were the Nigeria Innovations Experience Talks (NiX Talks) which was powered by TotalEnergies. The NiX Talks focused on The Green & Clean Tech, and the Future of Energy. Other summit features were fireside chats, panel discussions/interactive sessions, VR Games, innovation showcases and exhibitions, and expert insights on emerging technologies and their applications in solving local problems.
Some of the speakers and panellists include Kumar Iyer, DG, Economics, Science and Technology at the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO); Jonny Baxter, British Deputy High Commissioner, Omotayo Hassan, Renewable Explorer, TotalEnergies; Ibrahim Maigari Ahmadu, Founder/CEO, RiceAfrika; Dr. Funmi Adewara, Founder/CEO, Mobihealth International; Chukwuemeka Eze, Founder/CEO, Revive Earth; ‘Gbenga Sesan, Founder, Paradign Initiative; Chibuike Goodnews, CEO, Dochase; Dr. Victor Odumuyiwa (Nithub, Unilag); Jude Adejuwon, Practice Lead, HEI, CcHub; Hakeem Onasanya, Head, Startups, Lagos Innovates (LSETF); Oyinlola Israel, Founder/President, African AI Foundation; Yakubu Musa, National Coordinator, Office for Nigeria Digital Innovation (ONDI), and others.
The crowning of the Nigerian Innovation Summit (NIS) 2023 was the Nigeria Innovation Awards Night (NIAN) 2023. The Nigeria Innovation Awards recognises and awards key innovators at the forefront of the Nigerian Innovation landscape, as well as disruptors bringing positive and empirical impacts as well as progressive solutions to unique challenges.
The submissions from the 2023 NIS Awards prove that there is a need to build innovative business solutions, and develop an ecosystem in Nigeria across all sectors to drive innovation by promoting local content development, and locally-relevant technological solutions to impact significantly on the socio-economic development of Nigeria so that local innovation can solve local issues.
Of the hundreds nominated for the Nigerian Innovation Awards 2023, only eight organisations and individuals emerged as worthy recipients of this year’s awards, given their impressive track record of innovatively tackling problems and measurable impacts in keeping the Nigerian innovation landscape sustainable, and have embraced innovation to move Nigeria forward through their works. And for the first time, individuals showcasing creative and innovative works in technology, art, and entertainment were recognised.
The 2023 NIAN awardees include Nigeria Communications Commission for Pioneering Access For A Digital Economy; RiceAfrika, Driving Growth In Agriculture Through Technology; Fundall: Digitizing Financial Inclusion In Nigeria; Betapawa Solutions: Providing Access To Clean Energy For Nigerian Communities; Revive Earth: Innovating In E-Mobility In Nigeria; Skill Up With Kahdsole (SUWK): Social Innovation Of The Year; Gugu Robotics, the Most Innovative Startup In Nigeria, and PlastiBuild Creative Solutions for Innovating For A Greener Future Through Upcycling.
The Nigeria Innovation Summit 2023 had participation delegates from government agencies, diplomats, academic communities and research institutes, international organisations, investors, entrepreneurs, business/thought leaders, innovators, startups, and students.
The 2023 NIS concluded with an Innovation Tour to Zinox Tech Experience Centre/Cisco Lab, where we deepen the conversation and relationship with those bringing true innovation and disruption into the Nigerian innovation ecosystem.
This year’s Summit received huge support from CcHub; Asoko Insight; the Office for Nigeria Digital Innovation (ONDI); the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM); NITDA IT HUB (Nithub); VC4A; African AI Foundation; Lagos State Employment Trust Funds (LSETF); Virtual Domain; Zinox Tech Experience Centre, African Innovation Academy; DoChase; and PwC as partners, and was proudly sponsored by CoinEx and TotalEnergies.
The summit also has the following as its official media partners Brand Times; Techeconomy.ng; ITPulse; Coinnewsextra; Techbuild; Coinratecap; Technext; Innovation Village; Techtrends Africa; Lagosspy NG, and more. The Nigeria Innovation Summit was organized by InnovationHub Africa.
