Obinna Chima
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq has said the Prize for Innovation Programme (NIPP) introduced by the agency at the weekend, would help catalyse domestic capital for domestic ideas.
Umar-Sadiq, who prior to his elevation to the office of MD/CEO in October, was an Executive Director at the NSIA, said this during an interview in Lagos, on the sidelines of the launch of the NIPP.
The NSIA Prize for Invocation Programme was structured as a business enhancement programme to support early-stage, growth-driven ideas through education, mentorship, and financing.
The Programme is a strategy-based initiative of the NSIA Board which will run for at least three years.
Through the NPIP initiative, the NSIA stated that it was poised to identify, build, and channel the country’s latent potential in innovation and technology to catalyse economic growth, enhance the nation’s productive capacity, create jobs, and optimize resource sustainability.
In addition, the NPIP was designed to encourage and support creativity and ingenuity within the technology space and to fund new ideas that could result in cost-effective, scalable, and transformative positive impact.
The NPIP priority sectors are technology-enabled businesses in key seven priority sectors of the Nigerian economy.
The key sectors are Financial Services, Agriculture, Health, Education, Manufacturing, Renewables and Power.
Umar-Sadiq explained further: “This programme is supposed to catalyse domestic capital for domestic ideas. This is an initiative of the NSIA that does two things for the NSIA. Firstly, it is to put us in front and at the centre in the tech econsystem of Nigeria. Secondly and importantly, it is to ensure that those great ideas that Nigerians have find local capital in order to take them from success to significance. I think this is a very important initiative, not just for the NSIA, but also for the country in general.”
He also pointed that that the initiative would also consider the ideas stage, “but want to balance that carefully with the kind of capital that the NSIA manages.”
“The NSIA is a conservative capital manager. We manage capital for future generations of Nigerians. So, on one hand, we would support the tech ecosystem at the pre-seed stage, but on the other hand we have to ensure that there is real protection to ensure that capital is adequately managed for future generations of Nigerians. So, it is a very careful balancing act, but this is an important sector for the country, particularly the youth and NSIA must be at the centre of supporting it.”
Responding to a question on how the NSIA would select or shortlist start-ups, he said: “There are three different service providers that we have brought on board. The first is a technical service provider that is going to be in charge of the process and ensure that there is a website that is going to receive the ideas. “They are going to be in charge of seeding the ideas and leading the accelerator stage and more importantly, they are going to ensure that the 10 ideas that are going to get to the demo day stage are going to essentially have the requisite basis to present to a fantastic panel of judges.
“Secondly, we have a venture partner because the price that these ideas would in part be cash, but would also be equity by NSIA in those businesses. So, we would have a venture partner that would help NSIA manage those businesses to have value creation.
“Importantly, the last part is to have an auditor to ensure that all of the rules that have been in place in terms of application, the criteria set for review and the basis upon which these ideas would be judged. Basically, an auditor that would hold the entire competition to account to make that the transparency and accountability that the NSIA is known for continues to abide.”
Also a Non-Executive Director of the NSIA and Chairman of the NIPP launch, Mr. Ikemefuna Isiekwena said: “Like all great ideas, the Innovation prize itself is not the end we hope to attain but a means to an end. The outcome we seek is an “idea” economy for Nigeria. In this age, success in any discerning economy is defined by the ability to turn ideas into value faster than competition.
“We’re hopeful that this programme will inspire ingenuity, creativity, and inventiveness amongst our teeming youths which will result in ideas that become scalable businesses and in so doing, cause positive economic shifts in our country as we diversify away from traditional.”
He added: “To expand our presence in innovation and emerging technologies and replicate the success achieved in our other focus sectors, we established the NSIA Innovation Fund in 2020 with $25 million of our own capital.
“Recognising the need to make projects in the digital economy bankable, NSIA has created the Prize for Innovation as a platform to educate, train and reposition local technopreneurs for bankability. With the NSIA Innovation Prize, the Authority will contribute significantly towards cultivating a pipeline of investible companies.
“The Prize is expected to catalyze the growth and development of the Nigerian technology ecosystem over time by identifying aspiring technopreneurs and innovators, developing their skills, and providing them with a platform to showcase Nigerian technological solutions globally.”
