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By BONIFACE AKARAH
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has unveiled a strategy to connect Nigerian startups with investors, corporate organisations and potential customers, targeting a N3 billion investment pipeline for promising indigenous businesses.
The Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, disclosed this in a keynote address prepared for Moonshot 2026, organised by TechCabal at the National Theatre, Lagos, from October 28 to 29.
The Initiative, known as the Builders’ Festival, will hold during the Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibition scheduled for November 10 to 12, 2026, in Abuja. It is designed to link startups developing solutions to industry challenges with organisations that can provide investment, partnerships and market opportunities.
Abdullahi clarified that the N3 billion figure represents a target for mobilising investment and not funding already secured.
Speaking on Africa’s technology future, the NITDA chief challenged the continent to move beyond consuming digital products and become a global producer of innovative solutions, intellectual property and sustainable technology businesses.
“Africa’s next chapter will not be written by the technologies we consume. It will be written by the value we have the courage to create,” he declared.
He said Africa had considerable technological talent but continued to face gaps in infrastructure, financing, mentorship and access to markets, calling for stronger collaboration among governments, universities, investors, technology companies and innovation hubs.
According to him, NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2.0) focuses on connecting digital talent to opportunities, research to commercialisation, startups to capital, innovation to markets and technological advancement to public trust.
Abdullahi also urged stakeholders to shift attention from celebrating hackathons, pitch competitions and funding announcements to building businesses capable of surviving, creating jobs and competing internationally.
“The true measure of an innovation ecosystem is not how many startups it celebrates. It is how many sustainable enterprises it helps create,” he stated.
On artificial intelligence, he called for the development of indigenous capabilities in agriculture, healthcare, education, manufacturing and local-language technologies, rather than continued dependence on imported applications.
He urged investors to support promising Nigerian enterprises, corporations to create opportunities for startup solutions, and government institutions to strengthen policies, infrastructure and strategic partnerships.
The NITDA director-general identified innovation, trust and disciplined execution as three critical foundations for Africa’s technological competitiveness.
“The future will not belong only to those who predict it. It will belong to those with the courage to build it, the conviction to sustain it, and the discipline to make it work,” he said.
He urged African innovators to pursue global ambitions while developing solutions that create lasting economic opportunities and prosperity across the continent.
“Let us stop asking whether Africa can build the future. Let us start demonstrating how Africa will build it.”
