Beyond N300M: What Wema Bank Hackaholics Revealed About the Future of Nigerian Innovation

Okey Chukwuemeka

There is something quite remarkable about watching young people present solutions to problems that many of us have lived with for years, sometimes accepting them as part of everyday life. At Wema Bank’s Hackaholics 7.0 Grand Finale in Lagos, I found myself thinking about how much potential exists in this country, how easily some of it could go unnoticed, and what becomes possible when an institution decides to do more than applaud good ideas.

The event, themed, “Festival of the Future,” was an impressive gathering of innovators, entrepreneurs, technology leaders and other players within Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem. The energy was unmistakable. From the experiences created around the event to the quality and diversity of solutions presented, it was clear that considerable thought had gone into making the grand finale more than an awards ceremony.

But what made the experience particularly significant for me was the scale of the commitment behind it.

Consider the journey. Across seven pitch centres in Uyo, Kano, Yaba College of Technology, Benin, Ibadan, Enugu and Lagos, Hackaholics 7.0 attracted 5,329 participants and generated 1,632 ideas and solutions. From that pool, 59 participants emerged, with 21 finalists eventually selected through a multi-stage evaluation process. At the grand finale, 11 winning teams received a combined N300 million in funding.

Those figures deserve attention, not simply because they are impressive, but because of what they represent. Behind them are thousands of young Nigerians willing to take a chance on their ideas, subject their thinking to scrutiny and pursue solutions to challenges across agriculture, healthcare, education, environmental sustainability, accessibility and other sectors.

For many young entrepreneurs, the greatest difficulty is not identifying a problem or imagining a solution. It is finding the resources, guidance, connections and opportunities required to turn an idea into something people can actually use. Talent may be widely distributed, but access to opportunity is not. And that imbalance has consequences for how quickly promising innovations develop and how many never get the chance to prove their worth.

This is why I believe the real significance of Hackaholics lies beyond the competition itself. Wema Bank has created a platform that brings emerging innovators into contact with the kind of institutional support that can help move their ideas forward.

The range of solutions recognised at the seventh edition made that point particularly compelling.

The overall winner, Tony Niteon Nwose of Niteon, received N60 million for an agricultural technology solution designed to connect African farmers with international buyers, processors and financial services. In a country where agriculture remains central to livelihoods and economic activity, the potential value of improving market access and financial opportunities for farmers is considerable.

I was equally interested in the attention given to innovations addressing social and environmental problems. Craft Planet, which received N40 million in the Social Impact category, is working to transform plastic waste into sustainable building materials. SocialSign, awarded N30 million, is using technology to improve communication and inclusion for people with hearing impairments, while Harthio, which received N20 million, is focused on proactive mental wellness support.

These are the kinds of innovations that should encourage a broader conversation about what technological progress means for Africa. It cannot be measured only by the sophistication of a product or the novelty of an application. It must also be considered in terms of the problems being addressed, the people who stand to benefit and the opportunities created for society.

The same diversity was evident across the other categories. From healthcare solutions such as MamaAlert and Neural Forge to education, dispute resolution, customer intelligence and assistive technology, the winning ideas demonstrated that innovation is taking shape in different ways and across different areas of need.

I also found the recognition of women-led solutions particularly important. Creating a dedicated opportunity for women innovators to compete for funding and visibility is a meaningful part of widening participation in the technology ecosystem. The recognition of MamaAlert and URI demonstrated the breadth of ideas women are bringing into spaces where access to funding and opportunity can still be challenging.

Of course, winning a competition is not the same as building a successful business. Funding does not automatically guarantee commercial viability, adoption or long-term impact. The real test for these ventures will come in the months and years ahead, as they refine their products, reach customers, navigate operational challenges and demonstrate that their solutions can deliver value at scale.

But that is precisely why early institutional support matters. It gives promising founders a stronger foundation from which to confront those realities.

There is also something worth recognising about Wema Bank’s consistency. Hackaholics did not begin with this seventh edition. Since its introduction in 2019, the initiative has recorded more than 21,000 applicants, engaged over 50,000 participants, supported more than 10,000 startups across three countries and contributed to the development of over 100 solutions.

In an environment where corporate initiatives can sometimes disappear after a few editions, sustaining an innovation platform over several years is significant. It suggests an understanding that building an ecosystem requires patience, continued investment and a willingness to support ideas whose full potential may take time to emerge.

Wema Bank’s own history of digital innovation, including the introduction of ALAT in 2017, provides context for this commitment. What I find particularly noteworthy, however, is the decision to extend that innovation ambition beyond the Bank’s own products and services to support entrepreneurs working on challenges across the wider economy.

Nigeria’s future will depend in part on how successfully we connect the creativity of our young people with institutions capable of helping them build viable enterprises. That responsibility cannot rest with government alone, nor can it be left entirely to venture capital firms and individual investors. Established businesses have an important role to play in creating pathways through which emerging talent can access capital, expertise and opportunity.

Hackaholics 7.0 offered a practical example of what that contribution can look like.

As the grand finale drew to a close, I thought about the thousands of people who had participated in the journey and the 11 teams leaving with resources to take their solutions further. I also thought about those who did not win, but whose ideas had been tested, challenged and exposed to new possibilities.

The N300 million was undoubtedly one of the biggest announcements of the evening. Yet the more important story, in my view, is what that investment represents: a deliberate effort to give promising Nigerian ideas a better chance of becoming useful, sustainable businesses.

The success of Hackaholics 7.0 should ultimately be measured not only by what happened on that stage, but by what its participants go on to build, the problems they solve and the value they create.

That is where the lasting contribution of an initiative like this will be found. And it is why the experience deserves attention well beyond the excitement of the grand finale.

.Okey Chukwuemeka is a financial expert and public affairs commentator