…Agency strengthens technology-transfer systems, expands local manufacturing and builds pathways from research to market
https://www.digital.zenithbank.com/ZEQ/ZEQ-jan-2026/index.html#p=1The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) is today, Friday 4th September 2026, marking three years of institutional transformation under its Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, highlighting reforms, products, projects and strategic partnerships advancing Nigeria’s industrialisation agenda.
Since assuming office in September 2023, Halilu has led the repositioning of NASENI as Nigeria’s primary technology-transfer and commercialisation agency, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
The new direction is focused on closing the gap between Nigeria’s research capacity and its industrial output by connecting innovation, infrastructure, skilled manpower, finance, manufacturing and market access.
Speaking on the milestone, Halilu said Nigeria has never lacked ideas or technical talent, but has struggled to translate them into commercially viable products and industries.
“Nigeria has capable engineers, researchers and innovators. What has often been missing is a connected system that can identify promising ideas, develop them, finance them, manufacture them and take them to the market. Closing that gap has defined our work at NASENI over the past three years,” he said.
Institutional Reform As the Foundation
NASENI began its transformation by strengthening its internal systems and introducing a more accountable and results-driven approach to project implementation. The Agency established Project Management and Implementation Management Offices, reoriented its budget towards measurable deliverables, strengthened internal audit and reporting systems, digitised key processes and introduced an Enterprise Resource Planning system to improve efficiency and institutional accountability.
These reforms have been complemented by new frameworks for accelerated technology transfer, green industrial development and innovation commercialisation. NASENI’s operating model is built around three principles: Creation, Collaboration and Commercialisation. Under this framework, the Agency creates and adapts technologies that respond to national needs, collaborates with partners that provide expertise, capital and market access, and commercialises viable innovations so they can become products, enterprises, factories and jobs.
Building an Innovation-to-Industry Pipeline
To ensure that Nigerian innovations do not end as prototypes, NASENI has developed an interconnected pipeline covering talent discovery, research funding, incubation, commercialisation and market access. InnovateNaija identifies promising innovators across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The NASENI Innovation Hub provides product-development support, mentorship and connections to investors and industry.
The Research Commercialisation Grant Programme supports applied research with market potential, while DELT-Her provides targeted funding, mentorship and commercialisation opportunities to women in engineering.
In 2025, NASENI awarded ₦229 million to 14 researchers under its research commercialisation programme, supporting projects across agriculture, clean energy, healthcare, mobility and digital security. The Agency is also implementing DELTA-2, a Nigeria–Czech Republic programme supporting applied research, experimental development and technology transfer.
Other initiatives include FutureMakers, which introduces children and young people to science, technology, engineering and mathematics; SheFly, which trains women in drone technology; and the Reverse Japa Programme, which seeks to reconnect Nigerian researchers and innovators abroad with opportunities at home.
NASENI HoldCo is being positioned as the commercial vehicle for market-ready technologies, while the NASENI Showroom provides a permanent platform where investors, procurement institutions and members of the public can interact with locally developed products.
According to Halilu, the strength of the model lies in the connection between its components. “A competition can discover an inventor, but that inventor still needs product-development support, finance, manufacturing capacity and access to customers. We are building these components as one connected system rather than as isolated programmes,” he said.
Advancing Local Manufacturing
NASENI has developed and introduced more than 40 products across renewable energy, mobility, agriculture, healthcare, information technology, home appliances, clean cooking and education. The product portfolio includes solar irrigation pumps, solar home systems, solar streetlights, portable solar generators, batteries, electric vehicles, electric tricycles, CNG conversion solutions, smartphones, tablets, laptops, televisions, household appliances, rapid diagnostic kits, clean cookstoves and STEM learning tools.
Beyond product development, the Agency is investing in industrial platforms capable of supporting local manufacturing, testing and technology adaptation.
The 40-hectare Solar Industrial Park in Gora, Nasarawa State, is being developed as an integrated platform for solar research, manufacturing, testing and deployment. NASENI DevFrontier is advancing local solar streetlight production, while NASRacks is being established to manufacture solar mounting structures.
The Agency is also working with local and international partners to develop domestic capacity for photovoltaic modules, inverters, batteries and other renewable-energy components. These interventions are intended to move Nigeria beyond the deployment of imported solar systems towards greater participation in the solar manufacturing value chain.
Sustainable Mobility and Transport Technology
In the mobility sector, NASENI is developing an electric vehicle assembly facility at the Abuja Technology Village to support the production of electric vehicles, including the NASENI Electric Keke.
The Agency has also established CNG conversion and reverse-engineering centres in Abuja to support Nigeria’s transition towards more affordable and cleaner transportation. The centres provide vehicle conversion services, technical training and a platform for the local fabrication and adaptation of CNG components.
NASENI described its electric mobility and CNG programmes as complementary pathways: CNG provides a near-term option for reducing fuel costs, while electric mobility builds the engineering and supply-chain capabilities required for the future of transportation.
Agriculture and Food Security
NASENI’s agricultural interventions are designed to improve mechanisation, enable year-round farming and increase local production. Through the Irrigate Nigeria Project, the Agency is deploying solar-powered irrigation technologies to reduce dependence on rainfall and fossil-fuel-powered systems.
The National Asset Restoration, Refurbishment and Redeployment Project is recovering idle tractors and other public machinery and returning them to productive use. The programme is expected to extend the lifespan of public assets, support agricultural mechanisation and reduce unnecessary replacement costs. Agricultural incubation centres associated with the University of Abuja and Bayero University Kano are also being developed to provide shared infrastructure for researchers, startups, cooperatives and young agripreneurs.
In Kano, NASENI is implementing a coal-based fertiliser manufacturing project through bilateral technology transfer. The project is intended to build domestic fertilizer-production capability and reduce exposure to imported agricultural inputs.
Health and Advanced Manufacturing
The NASENI–Troment Rapid Diagnostics Factory in Abuja is strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to produce essential medical diagnostic products locally. The facility is being developed around recognised quality-management and regulatory requirements for medical devices, supporting Nigeria’s health security and reducing dependence on imported diagnostics.
At the Centre of Excellence for Precision Manufacturing in Abuja, NASENI is building the capacity to produce high-accuracy components for aerospace, defence, automotive, renewable energy, electronics and medical-device industries.
The Agency is also supporting indigenous capability in unmanned aerial vehicles through NASCAV Technologies and the UAV School at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Kaduna. The programme provides training in UAV design, assembly, operation, maintenance and recovery, with applications in defense, agriculture, mapping, infrastructure inspection, surveillance and environmental monitoring.
Through collaboration with the defense sector, NASENI is further developing reverse-engineering capacity for the repair, adaptation and local production of selected equipment.
Developing the People Behind the Industries
NASENI said industrialisation cannot be sustained without simultaneously developing the people required to design, operate and maintain industrial systems. Through its Skills Acquisition Centres, the Agency is training young Nigerians in electrical installation, solar technology, automotive maintenance, tailoring and other productive trades. The NASENI Sustainable Empowerment Programme combines practical skills, productive tools and locally developed technologies to improve livelihoods and household resilience.
DELT-Her and SheFly are expanding women’s participation in engineering and emerging technology, while FutureMakers is building an early pipeline of future engineers, inventors and problem-solvers. The Sustainable and Emerging Technologies Institute at Bayero University Kano is also being developed to connect academic research, emerging technologies, industrial requirements and enterprise development.
NASENI is further developing an Innovation Campus in the Federal Capital Territory to bring research, product development, advanced manufacturing, startup incubation, skills training and testing facilities into an integrated innovation district.
Partnerships for Technology Transfer
Over the period, NASENI has established more than 50 local and international partnerships across renewable energy, automotive technology, agriculture, health manufacturing, defense, aerospace, research and commercialisation. Its partners include public institutions, private companies, universities, research organisations and international technology firms.
The Agency said the value of these partnerships would be measured not by the number of agreements signed, but by the technology transferred, skills developed, production capacity established, investment mobilised and products delivered. Through its collaboration with the Bureau of Public Procurement and other public institutions, NASENI is also supporting the Nigeria First policy by promoting the adoption of credible locally developed technologies.
The Next Phase: Scale, Standards and Measurable Impact
NASENI said the next phase of its transformation would focus on scaling commercial production, deepening local content, improving standards and certification, increasing factory utilisation and expanding market adoption. The Agency will also strengthen the measurement of outcomes, including units produced and sold, direct jobs created, local suppliers engaged, import savings generated, people trained and employed, technologies transferred and private investment mobilised.
“The number of products, projects or partnerships is important, but it is not the final measure of success,” Halilu said. “The real test is whether our products are adopted, our factories operate sustainably, our partnerships transfer useful capabilities, our trainees secure livelihoods and more value remain within the Nigerian economy.
“I do not want NASENI to be remembered simply as an agency that installed equipment or launched projects. I want it to be recognised as the institution that helped Nigeria build the capacity to manufacture what it needs.” NASENI noted that while some factories and products are already operational, others are at the development stage, testing or commercialisation. The Agency said it would continue to distinguish completed outcomes from ongoing projects and future targets as part of its commitment to transparency and accountability.
Three years into the transformation, NASENI is evolving from a collection of research assets into a connected national platform for technology transfer, manufacturing and commercialisation. The Agency reaffirmed its commitment to supporting President Tinubu’s industrialisation agenda by transforming Nigerian ideas into competitive products, productive enterprises, skilled jobs and industries.
“The work is still in progress, but the direction is clear,” Halilu said. “Nigeria’s industrial future will be built through capable institutions, skilled people, competitive products and factories that produce. That is the system we are building at NASENI.”
