The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has unveiled plans to establish 68 innovation hubs across Nigerian universities as part of a broader effort to boost research, skills development, and collaboration with local industries.
Speaking during a visit from a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) delegation at TETFund’s headquarters in Abuja, Executive Secretary of the agency, Sonny Echono, stated that the new hubs would align with UNDP’s ongoing projects, which focus on innovation, skills enhancement, and structural reform.
Echono noted that the fund is currently supporting over 60 innovation hubs within tertiary institutions and is on track to increase the number to 68 before the end of the year. These hubs, he said, will be integrated with UNDP-supported centres to create a larger, more impactful innovation ecosystem.
“We started with 18 and are scaling to 68 this year. We’re replicating a successful model in Abuja that we piloted with Israeli start-ups. In addition, we are working with institutions to collaborate with indigenous industry clusters like Panteka in Kaduna and Computer Village in Lagos, to provide hands-on training. This complements your eight innovation hubs and allows us to consolidate our efforts,” Echono explained.
He further highlighted that the partnership aims to support commercialisation of research outputs, invest in energy infrastructure across campuses, and build technical skills among students. According to him, a national committee has already been established to oversee research commercialisation, while six regional laboratories are being developed across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones. TETFund is also funding energy efficiency projects in at least nine universities this year.
UNDP’s Resident Representative in Nigeria, Elsie Attafuah, commended TETFund’s focus on youth-led innovation and strategic investments.
She shared that UNDP will have launched eight innovation hubs across Nigerian universities by September, noting that the mission goes beyond building physical spaces.
“Our goal is not just to establish hubs, but to co-invest in the ideas that emerge from them. We must ask: who will fund these ideas? How do we de-risk innovation and ensure access to capital for youth-led ventures? That’s why this partnership is so transformative,” Attafuah said.
She also underscored the role of value-chain development and technological advancement in driving structural transformation in Nigeria’s economy.
