The National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI) has officially unveiled the NextGen Innovation Challenge 2026 in Abuja, describing it as a defining moment in Nigeria’s push toward a globally competitive and innovation-driven economy.
The initiative, launched under the leadership of the Director General and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Kazeem Kolawole Raji, marks the opening of the application portal for innovators across the country.
According to NBTI, the NextGen Innovation Challenge 2026 is calling on Nigeria’s brightest innovators, researchers, startups, inventors, academics, students, entrepreneurs, and technology-driven enterprises to submit market-ready and scalable solutions with clear commercial value and strong investment potential.
The board stated that this year’s edition has been deliberately structured to move beyond concepts and pitch decks. It focuses on validated innovations capable of real-world deployment, revenue generation, job creation, and global competitiveness. NBTI described NextGen 2026 as “not merely a competition—it is a structured commercialization pipeline aligned with NBTI’s statutory mandate to nurture, incubate, and accelerate indigenous technologies into viable enterprises.”
The agency added that “Nigeria’s next global technology champions will emerge from this platform.”
Entries are invited across critical high-impact sectors aligned with Nigeria’s development priorities and emerging global technology frontiers. These include Artificial Intelligence and Robotics; Advanced Semiconductors and Digital Infrastructure; Software Engineering and Advanced Design; Telecommunications with 6G and AI Integration; Green and Renewable Energy Technologies; Climate Resilience and Flood Detection Systems; Climate-Smart and Environmental Solutions; Safety, Surveillance and Smart Tracking Technologies; Agri-tech, Health-tech and Edu-tech; 3D Automation and Additive Manufacturing; Virtual Reality and Immersive Technologies; as well as Women-in-Tech and Gender-Inclusive Innovations.
NBTI noted that these domains reflect Nigeria’s ambition to strengthen industrial capacity, deepen technological sovereignty, enhance climate resilience, and expand inclusive economic participation.
The 2026 edition is also reinforced by strategic global partnerships, including Innovate UK, Teesside University in the United Kingdom, Google, Cambridge Alternative Finance, the Commonwealth Investment Network (CIN), and international climate-finance partners. These institutions are expected to provide structured mentorship, commercialization pathways, investor matchmaking, and access to global markets and financing ecosystems.
Programme milestones include Innovation Boot Camps scheduled for July 2026 in Abuja, where participants will undergo intensive training, product validation, commercialization refinement, and investor-readiness acceleration. This will be followed by a Global Grand Finale in October 2026 in London, where selected innovators will pitch before international investors, policymakers, development institutions, and global industry leaders.
NBTI stated that all submissions will be assessed using the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) framework to ensure objective and transparent evaluation based on technological maturity, functionality, scalability, and market readiness. The board emphasized that “the 2026 edition is strictly merit-driven.”
As part of its commitment to investment-ready innovation, NBTI has secured 20 exclusive Innovate UK-backed commercialization slots for advanced innovations with Minimum Viable Products (MVPs). These slots are reserved for technologies that have successfully passed proof-of-concept, demonstrated operational functionality, and reached early-stage commercial deployment. Selected innovators will receive accelerated incubation support, priority investor exposure, and structured pathways to international markets.
The application deadline is 28 March 2026, and innovators are encouraged to apply early through the official portal at nextgeninnovation.ng.
