The Federal Government, under the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy (FMCIDE) has commenced moves to standardise innovation hubs across Nigeria, amid concerns over differences in their institutional capacity, quality of services and outcomes.

The initiative, being developed by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) through the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), is designed to establish a national system for identifying, classifying, assessing and supporting innovation hubs.

Nigeria currently has no common national system for identifying and assessing innovation hubs, despite the growing role of the organisations in providing incubation, acceleration, training, mentorship, technical support, workspace, networks and access to investment and markets.

Speaking at the Lagos Stakeholder Validation Workshop on the National Innovation Hub Standards Framework (NIHSF), National Coordinator, ONDI, Victoria Fabunmi, said the initiative was designed to address the need for a stronger and more coordinated innovation ecosystem rather than constitute another regulatory requirement for hubs.

Fabunmi said the engagement was an opportunity to obtain critical feedback on a policy document that would help strengthen the actors driving Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem.

She said while Nigeria was already ranked among Africa’s leading innovation ecosystems, ONDI’s ambition was to move the country to the number one position on the continent.

According to her, the proposed framework is one of the tools that could help Nigeria become the number one innovation and technology ecosystem in the continent by strengthening innovation hubs, which in turn would strengthen the wider ecosystem.

Fabunmi said the expected impact should go beyond improving the hubs themselves, stressing that a stronger ecosystem should translate into more jobs, better solutions and greater contribution to the wider economy.

She said the objective was to ensure that startups and young people emerging from the ecosystem were not simply participating in programmes, but were producing solutions and enterprises capable of contributing to the real economy.
Fabunmi said the framework was still open to modification, with stakeholder feedback expected to expose gaps and deficiencies before the document is finalised.
The proposed framework is specifically designed as an ecosystem development and support instrument rather than a licensing or regulatory mechanism.

The HSF Lead Facilitator, Gbanaibolou Burutolu, said the need for the framework became necessary when it was noticed that organisations have varying approaches and capacities.

He said the framework therefore seeks to create a common idea, common language, common nomenclature, common framework and common architecture” for innovation hubs in Nigeria.

Under the proposed architecture, innovation hubs would be grouped into three broad families: venture development, capability building and convening.

Venture development hubs would include incubation, acceleration and sector-focused hubs, while capability-building hubs would include training and digital skills hubs, university-linked centres, and maker or technical hubs.

The convening category would cover organisations focused on bringing ecosystem actors together to create opportunities, build communities and establish connections.

The proposed assessment framework covers seven areas: governance, infrastructure, programme delivery, human capital, networks and partnerships, track record and sustainability.