Nigeria: First Lady Lays Foundation Stone For Renewed Hope Startup Hub As NITDA, JICA Deepen Tech Partnership

By Angeleine Mgbele, Bureau Chief, Northern Nigeria

Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has laid the foundation stone for the Renewed Hope Startup Hub in Abuja, describing the project as a landmark investment in technological advancement, youth empowerment, and digital inclusion.

This piece of information is borne in a press statement e-signed by the Director of Corporate Communications and Media Relations at NITDA, Hajiya Hadiza Umar.

Per the NITDA statement, the Renewed Hope Startup Hub is made possible through a US$10.4 million grant from the Government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in partnership with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

Speaking at the foundation-laying ceremony, the Nigerian First Lady said the facility should allow young innovators to turn their ideas into practical solutions and competitive businesses.

Senator  Tinubu challenged them to take advantage of the opportunities the hub would provide and  described the centre as a place where young Nigerians could nurture their ambitions and develop them into viable enterprises, saying “You can arrive here with a sketch and leave with a working prototype that takes you into the global market space.”

Mrs. Tinubu acknowledged the Government of Japan, through the Japan International  Cooperation Agency (JICA), for providing the strategic grant that made the project possible and noted that the partnership reflected a shared belief in the untapped potential of Nigeria’s digital ecosystem and its vibrant youth population.

The Nigerian First Lady also commended the NITDA Director-General, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, and his team for securing the partnership, noting that the establishment of startup hubs across the country aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

She said the agenda prioritised youth empowerment through entrepreneurship, skills development and sustainable job creation, equipping young Nigerians to compete and thrive in the global economy.

According to her, the Renewed Hope Startup Hub will serve as a national centre for incubation, hardware prototyping, research and international business collaboration. The facility is expected to provide an environment where innovators can develop and test their ideas, build prototypes and explore opportunities to take their products and services to wider markets.

Emphasising the importance of inclusion, Mrs. Tinubu called on NITDA to ensure that the facility, upon completion, would be open to young people irrespective of their location or background. She said the benefits of the project should extend beyond Abuja, giving aspiring entrepreneurs from different parts of the country an opportunity to participate in Nigeria’s growing digital economy.

She further praised Japan for its contribution, saying the partnership demonstrated that genuine friendship between nations could be measured by the opportunities created for younger generations.

The Nigerian First Lady expressed hope that the hub would contribute to the progress, empowerment and prosperity of Nigerian youths and  called on all stakeholders to make the initiative count, stressing that the facility must become more than a building by providing young innovators with practical opportunities to develop their ideas, build businesses and compete in the global marketplace.

Earlier, Abdullahi said the project went beyond providing a physical space for innovation, stressing that it was intended to create opportunities for young Nigerians to transform their ideas into viable businesses and solutions.

The NITDA boss  linked the project to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which, he said, focused on economic diversification through digitalisation and innovation, while ensuring that more Nigerians could participate in and benefit from national development.

“Today, we are laying the foundation, not just for an innovation hub, but for new enterprises, new opportunities, new partnerships, and a future where our youth ideas can be turned and used to solve our national problems and global challenges.

“We are investing in our people, the ingenuity of our people, particularly our young people, whose creativity, resilience, and entrepreneurial ambition are our greatest asset as a nation,’’ Abdullahi declared.

The NITDA DG outlined the progress achieved by  agency’s subsidiaries – the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI) and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) and said the ONDI’s initiatives had supported more than 995 startups and contributed to the creation of 7,596 jobs, and 300 companies received training through a digital export acceleration programme within the past three years.

Abdullahi also highlighted the expansion of the iHatch programme, jointly developed by NITDA and JICA through ONDI in 2023. He said that 333 startups were trained across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory between 2025 and early 2026, alongside 74 hub managers. According to him, the expansion reflected the need to make entrepreneurial support accessible to young people to build successful technology businesses across all sections of the country.

The NITDA CEO further highlighted other NITDA-JICA initiatives such as We Elevate and IgniteHatch, designed specifically to support women entrepreneurs, through which 224 women-owned enterprises had received training, with 12 founders sponsored to Japan while one beneficiary secured a grant worth us$500,000.

To widen access to such opportunities, Abdullahi announced that NITDA was working to ensure that every state had at least two functioning innovation hubs where young entrepreneurs could access incubation programmes and develop their ideas into market-ready products and services.

Abdullahi said that the Japanese government, through JICA, had provided US$10.4 million to expand the innovation hub. He also disclosed that JICA was working with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) to establish a US$50 million seed-funding facility for startups, to help strengthen entrepreneurship, create jobs in the digital economy and expand opportunities for Nigerian youths.

Expressing appreciation to the Nigerian First Lady for laying the foundation, the NITDA DG said the hub should give young Nigerians access to technology and support needed to take home-grown solutions to international markets. He pledged NITDA’s commitment to deepening cooperation with JICA and the Japanese government to create more productive opportunities for Nigerian innovators.

Also speaking, the Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Hideo Suzuki, noted that the project reflected more than six decades of cordial relations between Nigeria and Japan, with cooperation increasingly focused on technology, innovation and human capital development.

Mr. Suzuki explained that Japan’s support for Nigeria’s startup ecosystem rested on three pillars: strengthening policies and institutions, supporting early-stage investment, and providing infrastructure through the Renewed Hope Startup Hub.

“This hub will provide entrepreneurs with the state-of-the-art facilities and equipment needed to transform raw ideas into viable businesses. It will serve as a sanctuary for innovation, a dynamic space equipped with digital fabrication tools, and collaborative areas where entrepreneurs can turn their dreams into reality, connect with global partners and drive Nigeria's economic diversification,’’ Suzuki said.

He said Japan’s approach aimed to nurture businesses over the long term rather than pursue quick financial exits, adding that the project aligned with Nigeria’s economic diversification and digital transformation goals, as well as with Japan’s broader ambition to promote industrial growth and stronger economic ties across Africa.

The project represents a significant step by Nigeria’s government to use international cooperation to expand access to technology, support entrepreneurship, and equip Nigerian youths with the skills and resources needed to pursue their ambitions.