Imperial EdTech Powers Next Generation of African Innovators at the APEN AI, Coding & Robotics Competition
Fadekemi Ajakaiye
Imperial EdTech, Nigeria’s leading digital infrastructure enabler for educational transformation, has successfully concluded as technical partners with the Association of Private Educators in Nigeria (APEN) for their inaugural AI, Coding & Robotics Competition. As the technical delivery partner and primary sponsor, Imperial EdTech provided comprehensive technological solutions that empowered young innovators to develop groundbreaking smart systems addressing critical Nigerian challenges.
The competition, themed “Solving Local Problems with Smart Tech & Engineering Design,” brought together students from primary through sixth-form levels to create innovative solutions addressing Nigeria’s most pressing challenges in smart agriculture and sustainable cities.
Imperial EdTech’s comprehensive technical expertise and infrastructure support transformed what could have been a simple coding contest into a sophisticated platform for genuine innovation, enabling participating schools to develop prototypes that rival professional engineering solutions.
“This partnership represents more than educational sponsorship, it embodies our commitment to identifying and bridging the critical gaps in Nigeria’s educational technology ecosystem,” said Olanrewaju Ogundipe, CEO and visionary founder of Imperial EdTech.
Ogundipe continued, “Through this collaboration, we witnessed firsthand the extraordinary potential of young African minds when provided with appropriate technological frameworks and support systems. These students aren’t just learning to code; they’re architecting solutions for Nigeria’s future.”
Imperial EdTech’s strategic contribution extended far beyond traditional sponsorship. The company provided participating schools with devices, carefully selected as sophisticated digital tools that enabled smart monitoring and control capabilities for student innovations. These devices became the central nervous systems for remarkable solutions: automated watering systems that respond intelligently to soil moisture sensors, waste management bins equipped with IoT capabilities that optimize collection routing, and adaptive traffic light systems that adjust dynamically to real-time congestion patterns.
What distinguished Imperial EdTech’s involvement was the comprehensive nature of their technical partnership. Beyond providing hardware and digital tools, the company conducted extensive technology audits for participating educational institutions, delivering detailed assessments that identified infrastructure gaps and provided strategic roadmaps for technological advancement. These evaluations examined connectivity capabilities, hardware requirements, and digital literacy capacity building opportunities, creating customized development pathways for each institution’s specific needs and aspirations.
The partnership with APEN, alongside collaborator STEMI Makers Africa, represents Imperial EdTech’s commitment to transforming educational technology from traditional infrastructure provision to comprehensive ecosystem development. Ogundipe’s leadership philosophy centers on “Building for Impact,” ensuring that technology education becomes a catalyst for systemic change rather than isolated skill development. This approach integrates critical thinking methodologies with sustainable development consciousness, creating educational experiences that generate immediate practical value while building long-term innovative capacity.
The APEN competition revealed significant insights about Nigeria’s educational technology landscape, highlighting both the extraordinary innovative capacity of young learners and the systematic infrastructure investments required to support their continued development. Imperial EdTech’s participation provided valuable data for refining the company’s strategic approach to educational technology deployment across Nigeria and the broader African continent.
The smart solutions developed during the competition demonstrate the practical application of Imperial EdTech’s educational frameworks. Students utilized integrated AI and IoT technologies to address real-world challenges, creating prototypes that could genuinely transform urban planning, agricultural efficiency, and traffic management systems. These innovations showcase the potential for technology education to generate immediate practical value while building long-term innovative capacity.
Imperial EdTech’s comprehensive support model extends beyond competition participation to ongoing institutional partnerships. The technology audits and infrastructure assessments provided to participating schools represent the company’s commitment to sustainable educational transformation through strategic planning and systematic capacity building.
This partnership marks a significant milestone in Imperial EdTech’s mission to ensure that African educational institutions become centers of technological innovation rather than passive consumers of imported solutions. By supporting young innovators in developing context-specific technological solutions, the company reinforces its position as a catalyst for indigenous innovation while maintaining global competitiveness standards.
