Nigeria and the United Kingdom have unveiled a new partnership aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s startup ecosystem through the launch of the Nigeria Innovation Cluster Exchange (NICE), a national initiative designed to connect innovation hubs, research institutions and entrepreneurship support organisations (ESOs) across the country.

The programme is funded by the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub under the UK Government’s Digital Access Programme and is being implemented by The Nest Innovation Technology Park. It is intended to tackle fragmentation within Nigeria’s innovation landscape by encouraging collaboration, knowledge sharing and coordinated support for startups.

Speaking during the official launch, Co-founder of The Nest Innovation Technology Park, Oluwajoba Oloba, said the initiative represents a significant shift toward building a more connected innovation ecosystem capable of supporting sustainable economic growth.

“Today, we are moving from celebrating isolated pockets of brilliance to engineering a collective national engine for growth. NICE provides the architecture to unify our entrepreneurship support organisations and startups, allowing them to function like a coordinated army of ants. We are not just launching a programme; we are activating the connective tissue Nigeria’s economy has long demanded,” Oloba said.

According to the organisers, the concept for the initiative emerged from insights gathered during the 2025 UK Digital Trade and Innovation Tour, coordinated by the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub in collaboration with the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI). The programme was developed to adapt global best practices to Nigeria’s evolving innovation ecosystem.

The organisers noted that while Nigeria has recorded rapid expansion in sectors such as fintech, agritech, cybersecurity and health technology, the country’s innovation ecosystem continues to face structural challenges, with entrepreneurship support organisations, research centres and innovation hubs largely operating independently.

They explained that this lack of coordination has led to duplicated efforts and weakened support systems for startups, contributing to low survival rates among emerging businesses.

During its pilot phase, NICE will identify and formally establish innovation clusters across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. These clusters will form part of a national database designed to support investors, policymakers and development partners.

The initiative will also promote structured knowledge exchange between Nigerian innovation clusters and their counterparts in the United Kingdom through expert residency programmes. In addition, it will facilitate collaborative innovation sprints focused on developing practical solutions to local challenges.

To ensure long-term sustainability, the programme will introduce a local stewardship model that enables innovation clusters to remain self-governing beyond the pilot phase.

The organisers said NICE will prioritise strategic sectors including agritech, cybersecurity and health technology, with the objective of accelerating innovation, supporting Nigeria’s economic diversification agenda and improving access to technical expertise regardless of geographical location.

They added that the initiative is expected to foster stronger collaboration among incubators, accelerators, research institutions and startups, ultimately creating a more resilient innovation ecosystem capable of sustaining long-term entrepreneurial growth.

The pilot phase of the Nigeria Innovation Cluster Exchange (NICE) officially commenced on July 6, 2026, with entrepreneurship support organisations, research institutions and industry stakeholders invited to participate.