Call for Applications: InnovateNaija Challenge 2025 | Win Up to 100million Naira

Call for Applications: InnovateNaija Challenge 2025 | Win Up to 100million Naira

Are you a young Nigerian with a groundbreaking, homegrown product in science, engineering, or manufacturing?

Here’s your chance to turn your innovation into a reality. The InnovateNaija Challenge 2025, sponsored by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), is a nationwide competition designed to identify, empower, and fund grassroots inventors.

With a total prize pool of over ₦250 million, this challenge is one of the biggest of its kind in Nigeria. It’s a movement aimed at celebrating local talent and showcasing solutions that can solve real-world problems.

Challenge Highlights

• Type: Contest
• Sponsor: NASENI
• Eligible Country: Nigeria
• Age Range: 15–40

Prize Pool:

• 37 State Winners: A ₦2.5 million grant for each winner (one from each state and the FCT).

National Winners: The top three finalists will receive a grand prize:

• 1st Place: ₦100 million
• 2nd Place: ₦30 million
• 3rd Place: ₦20 million
• Deadline: October 4, 2025

Also Apply: Link to Apply: Federal Government Youth Data Protection Awareness and Training (YDPAT) Program 2025

Application Requirements

To be eligible for the challenge, you must meet the following criteria:

• Citizenship and Residency: You must be a citizen of Nigeria and currently residing within the country. Nigerians who are temporary visitors or students abroad are not eligible.
• Product Stage: Your innovative product must be at the prototype or fully developed stage. Projects that are still just ideas will not be considered.
• Sector: Your innovation must be within the science, engineering, or manufacturing sector. Low-tech and no-tech solutions are also welcome as long as they fit within these fields.
• Originality: The innovation must be original and created by you or your team.
• Problem-Solving: Your product or solution should address a local problem or work to improve community life in Nigeria.
• Application Format: You can submit your application in English or a local language, with a translation if possible.
• Application Type: You can apply as an individual or as part of a team. If you’re in a team, one member must be the primary contact.
• Social Media: You or your team must have at least one active Instagram account to participate.
• Entrant Status: The challenge is for emerging talents and grassroots inventors, not for fully funded startups.
• Applicability: Your innovation must be applicable or adaptable to the Nigerian context.
• Submission Limit: Each applicant or team can only submit one innovation.

Also Apply: Call for Applications: Rainoil Limited Graduate Trainee Program 2025

How the Challenge Works

The InnovateNaija Challenge will unfold in two main phases:

Phase 1: State-Level Selection

• Applicants will submit their innovative products via a 2-minute video pitch on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), tagging NASENI and using the required hashtags.
• A shortlist of the top five entries from each state will be selected for public voting.
• The highest-voted video from each of Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT will be crowned a state winner and receive a ₦2.5 million grant to further develop their innovation.

Phase 2: National Final

• The 37 state winners will submit a new video for another round of public voting to determine the top 15 finalists.
• These 15 finalists will be invited to a live pitch event at the NASENI Invention Fest in Abuja in February 2026.
• Here, they will present their products to a panel of expert judges who will select the top three national winners.