By Emmanuel Okogba

Beyond their feminine look, they held the aces of game-changers. The cheques were only N9.5 million in total but the signal they sent from a packed hall that Thursday in Lagos was worth far more.

It was the Innovation Makers Challenge (IMC) Conference & Innovation Exhibition 2.0, held on 24 September 2026 at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. It turned out to be extraordinary and a celebration of young women with bold ideas who are rewriting Nigeria’s innovation story. 

The premier conference was convened by the Telecommunication and Technology Sustainability Working Group (TTSWG). Five early-stage founders took the stage. All five were women. All five were under 35. And all five came with one thing in common: they were not pitching apps for vanity. They were pitching answers to problems Nigeria feels every day. That is the significance of this year’s IMC: From Ideas to Real Impact.

When Omolola Adewoye stepped forward to receive N6 million for Agrovesto Enterprise Limited, it wasn’t just a prize. When Alero Thompson came forward to collect N2 million for Blue Sands STEM Labs, it wasn’t just a prize. And, when Favour Adeleke stepped forward to receive N1 million for QiqiFarms, it wasn’t just a prize. It was not just a validation of Nigerian youths as tomorrow’s leaders. It was an affirmation that young persons are the real builders of today and tomorrow.

Themed “Nurturing Innovation Ecosystems: Beyond Ideas to Real Impact,” the conference, was designed to move the conversation past inspiration. During the maiden edition in 2023, TTSWG started with two sectors. This year, it expanded to five – health, agriculture, education, climate change, and technology – because, as Lead Consultant at the TTSWG Secretariat, Bankole Oloruntoba put it, “the sector cannot attain sustainability with just technology alone.”

The day had featured a panel session with equally young and successful techpreneurs sharing insightful perspectives on strategies to stimulate and accelerate Nigeria’s innovation ecosystems. The panelists included Zumah Yahaya, Programme Director, Ilorin Innovation Hub, Nissi Madu, Managing Partner, Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB), Anil Almaramani, Partner, Antler, Ireayo Oladunjoye, Managing Director, Endeavor Nigeria, and Fiyinoluwa Olorunsola, CEO, Hydrogen.

Product exhibition, a fireside chat and networking also got good scores at the event. But the heartbeat was the IMC 2.0 Pitch. From a competitive pool, five stood out: Agrovesto led by Omolola – Winner, is building what she called an operating system for bankable and sustainable agriculture. In a country where 40% of farm produce is lost post-harvest and where banks still see smallholder farmers as too risky to fund, Agrovesto wants to make farming data-rich, traceable and investable. Think of it as turning a millet farm in Bida or a cassava farm in Oyo into a balance sheet a bank in Lagos can understand.

Blue Sands led by Alero Thompson – First Runner-up, is a virtual lab EdTech platform where students can perform biology, chemistry and physics experiments digitally. Imagine a public secondary school in Makoko where there is no Bunsen burner, an SS3 student can now titrate acid and base through virtual reality. It solves the problem every WAEC or NECO student knows: you read about experiments you never did.

Favour Adeleke–led QiqiFarms, the Second Runner-up, is a farm produce offtaker AgriTech that guarantees market for farmers before harvest. For the tomato farmer in Jos who watches his harvest rot because Mile 12 traders didn’t show up, QiqiFarms is the assured buyer.

The other two finalists who made the all-female top five were Elcornel Business Enterprises Limited, a climate-friendly AgriTech, and Anatsor Limited, a tech-based poultry farming management software. Before the IMC 2.0 Conference and exhibition, all 5 finalists where hosted in a 3-day IMC Bootcamp and groomed on business development, finance and pitching, business clinics with legal and business consultants.

The winners did not just walk away with cheques presented by TTSWG Board Chairman, Engr. Abdu-Waya Mohammed. They also secured a structured six-month incubation programme to help them scale.

What does the rise of these young innovators mean for Nigeria? It means three things: First, a shift from consumption to creation. Nigeria has over 109 million internet users. For years, we have been celebrated as the continent’s biggest consumers of data. The IMC 2.0 shows a different story. Young Nigerians are no longer just using technology; they are deploying it to fix broken value chains. When a 27-year-old builds software to manage poultry mortality, she is raising national productivity, creating jobs, wealth, and not being a job seeker.

Second, a solution to our most stubborn crises. Consider the examples: We have a food inflation rate that has crossed 35%. We have 10.5 million out-of-school children. We have climate shocks wiping out farmlands in Kebbi and Benue. The government cannot solve these alone. But an Agrovesto can make agriculture bankable, a Blue Sands can deliver lab practicals to 1,000 schools without building 1,000 labs. This is frugal innovation with national impact.

Third, a feminisation of tech leadership. That all five finalists were female-led in a sector often perceived as male-dominated is not tokenism. It is a pointer to where the future is. In a country where women run 41% of micro-businesses but receive less than 10% of formal credit, putting N9.5 million directly in the hands of female founders is economic inclusion in action – closing the real gap.

Delivering the welcome address, Senior Vice President & Chief Corporate Services Officer, IHS Nigeria, Dapo Otunla, captured the essence perfectly. “Our towers and fiber help keep over 130 million Nigerian subscribers connected every day. But infrastructure on its own is only half of the story. This is the intersection where the Innovation Makers Challenge lives: the meeting point between infrastructure and imagination, between connectivity and capability. That’s the gap this conference exists to close. Not the physical one, the one between having an idea and knowing what to do with that idea,” he said. 

He recalled that the IMC first edition attracted close to 800 applicants, over 300 in-person participants and 17 solutions on stage. “When we set out on this journey, we knew we were planting a seed. Looking around this room today, I can say with confidence that the seed has taken root.”

That seed is now a nursery. With the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) approval, IHS Towers as lead sponsor, and partners including MTN, Airtel, Co-Creation Hub, Hydrogen, Lagos Business School Sustainability Centre and the Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre (NCIC), TTSWG has built what many innovation forums lack: a pipeline.

It starts with inspiration, moves to a bootcamp, to a pitch, to seed funding, and crucially, to incubation. As Otunla noted: “When entrepreneurs are equipped with the right knowledge, they build stronger businesses. They create employment… and create value that extends far beyond themselves.”

Oloruntoba echoed the broader vision of IMC Conference & Exhibition 2.0 – deepen support for sustainability in the technology and telecommunication sector. “When we had the first Innovation Makers Challenge Conference & Exhibition, we had quite a number of participants. The first edition focused mostly on two sectors, while today we have expanded to five sectors – health, agriculture, education, climate change and technology,” he said.

“We know the sector cannot attain sustainability with just technology alone; we also have to bring in other essential components or wide-range of activities. The IMC is built on the premise of supporting innovation and also creating a convergence for young innovators within those sectors. There are different milestones in building an innovation, but one critical part is the ability to inspire a new generation of innovators. This is part of what IMC seeks to achieve.”

No one builds a unicorn overnight. But, for Omolola digitising farms, Alero putting a science lab in every child’s pocket, and Favour guaranteeing a farmer’s income, TTSWG’s IMC is truly an enabler. Tech innovators, your idea is not too small. The world is waiting. This is how ecosystems are truly nurtured – beyond ideas, to real impact.