The Tertiary Education Trust Fund and the United Nations Development Programme have signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate Nigeria’s transition into an innovation-driven, knowledge-based economy, placing universities and polytechnics at the centre of digital transformation and research commercialisation. The agreement will establish new innovation hubs, upgrade existing ones, and strengthen tertiary institutions as engines for enterprise growth, job creation, technology development and research-to-market systems.
Through the National Innovation and Digital Transformation Partnership Programme, both organisations plan to equip more than 500,000 students and researchers with digital and innovation skills, support between 1,500 and 2,000 university-linked startups, and commercialise 5,000 research outputs. UNDP’s Resident Representative described the partnership as a defining moment for Nigeria’s innovation landscape, noting that innovation pods already emerging across campuses are designed to advance mineral development, clean energy, artificial intelligence applications and next-generation skills. She explained that eight university innovation pods and one polytechnic pod are ready for activation across multiple states, forming the first wave of hubs aligned with national economic priorities.
The partnership draws strength from TETFund’s nationwide institutional footprint and UNDP’s regional innovation network, including the renowned Timbuktu Pan-African Innovation Initiative. It aims to transform universities into full innovation ecosystems that link researchers with industry and investors, turning academic talent and research outputs into companies, jobs and new industries. UNDP commended TETFund for decades of investment in infrastructure and research, saying the collaboration ushers tertiary institutions into a new phase centred on innovation, digital capability and knowledge-economy growth.
TETFund’s Executive Secretary described the agreement as a critical step in preparing Nigerian youths for the global workforce and future technology opportunities, revealing that the 2025 intervention cycle will triple funding for innovation hubs. He said linking hubs to academic programmes and community needs will make institutions more relevant while deepening entrepreneurship and employability. He expressed confidence that UNDP’s experience will speed up programme design, strengthen impact delivery, and expand innovation facilities nationwide, aligning with the federal government’s transformation agenda for education.
A joint statement reaffirmed commitment to nurturing innovators, expanding access to sustainable financing for research commercialisation, and strengthening policy systems that support innovation. Implementation will focus on institutionalising innovation across tertiary institutions, human capital development, scaling frontier technology adoption, accelerating startup growth, and improving governance and evidence systems. Both institutions confirmed plans to activate the first batch of university and polytechnic innovation pods, upgrade more than nine additional TETFund-funded facilities, establish or strengthen up to 20 Technology Transfer Offices, train half a million learners, and commercialise thousands of research results.
For African MSMEs, the initiative signals a generation of fresh talent, research-driven products and startup pipelines that could feed future markets. If these hubs scale successfully, small businesses could benefit from improved technology access, new partnerships with research groups and a more skilled workforce emerging from Nigerian tertiary institutions.
