The Telecommunication and Technology Sustainability Working Group (TTSWG), during the week, convened a broad spectrum of policymakers, industry executives, investors, development partners, financial institutions, young innovators and thought leaders from across Nigeria’s technology and telecommunications ecosystem to deepen conversation on driving sustainable innovation further in Nigeria.

The second edition of the premier Innovation Makers Challenge [IMC] Conference & Innovation Exhibition 2.0, which was sponsored by IHS Nigeria and took place in Lagos, under the theme: “Nurturing Innovation Ecosystems: Beyond Ideas to Real Impact.”

The IMC 2.0, built on the success of its inaugural edition, significantly expanding its scope and ambition. While the first edition focused on two sectors, this year’s conference expanded to five critical areas driving Nigeria’s sustainable development: health, agriculture, education, climate change, and technology.

The uniqueness of this year’s conference was characterised by a top-five live pitch session featuring all-female early-stage Innovators: QiqiFarms (farm produce offtaker AgriTech), Elcornel Business Enterprises Limited (climate-friendly AgriTech), Anatsor Limited (tech-based poultry farming management software enabler), Agrovesto (tech-based AgriTech pioneering operating system for bankable and sustainable agriculture), and Blue Sands STEM Labs (a virtual lab EdTech).

The three winners of the pitch received a combined N9.5 million seed fund to support their growth. Agrovesto received N6 million (prize winner); Blue Sands STEM Labs, N2 million (first runner-up); and QiqiFarms, N1 million (second runner-up).

Dapo Otunla, Senior Vice President & Chief Corporate Services Officer, IHS Nigeria, remarked that IMC Conference & Innovation Exhibition was a veritable platform for closing the gap between infrastructure and imagination, and between connectivity and capability by creating opportunity for young innovators to come into the ecosystem and leverage their creativity to solve real-life problems.

“As a company, we believe education is one of the most powerful forms of economic empowerment available to us. When entrepreneurs are equipped with the right knowledge, they build stronger businesses. They create employment, develop other people, make smarter decisions and scale responsibly. And, perhaps most importantly, they create value that extends far beyond themselves into their families, their communities, and ultimately, the nation,” he said.

“This is the intersection where the Innovation Makers Challenge lives: the meeting point between infrastructure and imagination, between connectivity and capability. That’s the gap this conference exists to close. Not the physical one, the one between having an idea and knowing what to do with that idea.”
Bankole Oloruntoba, Lead Consultant at the TTSWG Secretariat, emphasised that the broader vision of Innovation Makers Challenge Conference & Exhibition 2.0 was to deepen support for sustainability in the technology and telecommunications sector.

“When we had the first Innovation Makers Challenge Conference & Exhibition, we had quite a number of participants. The first edition focused mostly on two sectors, while today we have expanded to five sectors – health, agriculture, education, climate change and technology,” he said.

“We know the sector cannot attain sustainability with just technology alone; we also have to bring in other essential components or wide-range of activities. The IMC is built on the premise of supporting innovation and also creating a convergence for young innovators within those sectors. There are different milestones in building an innovation, but one critical part is the ability to inspire a new generation of innovators. This is part of what IMC seeks to achieve.”

Other major highlights of this year’s IMC Conference & Innovation Exhibition 2.0 included product exhibition, panel discussion, fireside chat, and networking sessions connecting young innovators with investors and industry leaders who can help scale their solutions from idea to market.

Oloruntoba expressed gratitude to the Nigerian Communications Commission [NCC], the conference sponsor IHS Nigeria, and partners: MTN, Airtel, Co-Creation Hub, Hydrogen, Lagos Business School [LBS] Sustainability Centre, and Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre [NCIC] for their support to TTSWG and for providing opportunity for young innovators to express their creativity.