The UK-Higeria Tech Hub, in partnership with The Nest Innovation Technology Park, has launched the Nigeria Innovation Cluster Exchange (NICE).

Funded by the UK Government’s Digital Access Programme, this landmark initiative is designed to transform Nigeria’s rapidly growing but critically fragmented startup ecosystem into a unified, data-driven national network.

While Nigeria has seen explosive growth in fintech, agri-tech and health tech, the ecosystem remains plagued by “siloed” operations. Entrepreneurship Support Organisations (ESOs), research centers and hubs often work in isolation, leading to duplication of effort and a staggering survival rate, with fewer than 10 per cent of startups surviving beyond their third year.

According to The Nest, NICE aimed to solve this “coordination deficit” by organising disparate actors into a cohesive structure. The pilot programme will focus on four key objectives: Cluster Mapping across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, Knowledge Mobility with UK counterparts, Collaborative Prototyping, and a robust Sustainability model to ensure long-term resilience.

Co-founder of The Nest Innovation Technology Park, Oluwajoba Oloba, said: “This is about moving from celebrating isolated pockets of brilliance to engineering a collective national engine for growth, NICE is the connective tissue Nigeria’s economy has long demanded. We are activating a coordinated army of ants to drive economic impact.”

Developed with insights from the 2025 UK Digital Trade and Innovation Tour, NICE will specifically target sectors vital to national diversification, including agri-tech for food security, cyber tech and health tech.

By facilitating cross-cluster learning and expert residencies, the initiative ensures that startup support is no longer limited by geography.

The NICE pilot phase began yesterday, July 6th, 2026. ESOs, research institutions, and industry stakeholders are invited to participate in building the future of Nigerian innovation.