For decades, Northern Nigeria has been defined by its vast agricultural base, bustling informal markets, and deep cultural heritage. Today, a new narrative is unfolding, one driven not by oil wealth or federal allocation, but by innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology.

Across the Northern States of Nigeria, a silent but powerful tech revolution is underway. Young founders are building solutions tailored to local realities, bridging gaps in finance, modernising agriculture, digitising trade, and tackling environmental challenges. What makes this wave remarkable is its pragmatism, these startups are not chasing trends; they are solving real problems.

As of April 2026, a cluster of high-impact startups is emerging as the backbone of this transformation.

Here’s a look at twelve standout startups driving this transformation:

1. Startup Kano

No conversation about Northern Nigeria’s tech rise is complete without Startup Kano. More than an incubator, it is a movement. By training over 50,000 young people in digital skills, entrepreneurship, and product development, it has built one of the most vibrant innovation communities in the region.

Beyond training, Startup Kano provides mentorship, access to funding, and incubation support, creating a pipeline of founders who are now launching ventures across multiple sectors. Its real impact lies in shifting mindsets: proving that global-standard innovation can emerge from Northern Nigeria.

2. eTrash2Cash

At the intersection of sustainability and social impact, eTrash2Cash is building a circular economy. By allowing users to exchange plastic waste for digital rewards, it incentivises cleaner communities while providing economic benefits, especially for low-income households.

3. Nabola

Taking things a step further, Nabola uses AI-powered machines to automate waste collection and reward systems. Its scalable model has the potential to revolutionise how cities manage plastic waste, turning a major environmental problem into an economic opportunity.

4. Carbon Cookware

In many Northern households, cooking remains both costly and environmentally harmful. Carbon Cookware is addressing this with clean, efficient cooking solutions that cut fuel costs by up to 40 percent while reducing deforestation. Its impact sits at the intersection of climate action, public health, and household economics.

5. Babban Gona

Agriculture remains the economic backbone of the North, and several startups are transforming it from subsistence activity into a scalable, profitable enterprise.

Meaning “Great Farm,” Babban Gona is transforming agriculture at scale. By combining technology, financing, and professional farm management, it empowers smallholder farmers, boosts yields, and tackles youth unemployment, helping to curb rural-urban migration.

6. Thrive Agric

Thrive Agric is bridging the financing gap in agriculture. By connecting farmers with investors and ensuring transparency through technology, it is unlocking capital, empowering rural farmers, and driving inclusive growth. Thousands of farmers now have access to resources that were previously out of reach.

7. Tomato Jos

Nigeria’s dependence on imported tomato paste has long been a paradox for a country with vast arable land. Tomato Jos is addressing this gap head-on by building an integrated system that combines farming, processing, and distribution. The result reduced imports, stable supply chains, and thousands of rural jobs.

8. AgroEknor

AgroEknor is pushing the value chain further by focusing on agro-processing and export readiness. By improving quality standards and connecting local producers to international markets, it is positioning Northern Nigeria as a competitive player in global agricultural trade.

9. Kwari E-Market

Northern Nigeria’s markets have always been vibrant, but largely informal. A new generation of startups is now bringing structure, scale, and digital access.

Inspired by Kano’s historic Kwari Market. Kwari E-Market is digitising one of West Africa’s most iconic trading centres. Vendors who once relied solely on foot traffic can now reach customers nationwide, with integrated payment and logistics systems expanding their reach.

10. Breni

Perhaps one of the most globally visible startups from the region, Breni is redefining digital learning. Its AI-powered, gamified platform delivers bite-sized lessons that appeal to modern learners. What sets it apart is its international traction, especially in Asia, demonstrating that Northern Nigeria is not just consuming technology, but exporting it.

11. Carrydey Technologies

Infrastructure gaps have long made logistics a challenge in the region. Startups are now stepping in with creative, tech-driven solutions.

Carrydey’s peer-to-peer delivery model is as simple as it is powerful; connect people sending packages with travellers already heading in the same direction. This reduces costs, increases efficiency, and opens up delivery networks in areas underserved by traditional logistics companies.

12. MSaliskhan Express

Blending tradition with technology, MSaliskhan Express is redefining e-commerce for Northern consumers. By combining WhatsApp-based ordering with physical showrooms, it builds trust while offering convenience—an approach that reflects a deep understanding of local buying behaviour.

What sets these startups apart is not just innovation, but relevance. Each is rooted in solving real problems, whether it’s improving farm productivity, digitizing informal markets, or turning waste into economic opportunity.

Together, they paint a compelling picture of a region in transition, where technology meets tradition, and where local solutions are quietly shaping a more resilient and prosperous Northern Nigeria.

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The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has announced the opening of applications for its highly anticipated 2025 Entrepreneurship Programmes, inviting aspiring and established entrepreneurs from across Africa to apply for transformative opportunities.

The programmes offer participants access to world-class training, expert mentoring, and non-refundable seed capital to grow and scale their businesses.

Programmes Available for Application

1. Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme
The flagship initiative is open to entrepreneurs across Africa with innovative business ideas or businesses that are not older than five years. This year’s programme highlights businesses leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and green initiatives. Applicants must be at least 18 years old.

2. IYBA-WE4A Entrepreneurship Programme

In collaboration with the European Union (EU) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), this programme focuses on empowering women entrepreneurs with green business ideas. It targets businesses in Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, and Togo. Applicants must be 18 years or older, with businesses operating for no more than five years.

3. Aguka Ideation Programme

A partnership with UNDP Rwanda and the Rwandan Ministry of Youths and Arts, the Aguka Ideation Programme supports young Rwandan entrepreneurs aged 18 to 30. Selected participants receive $3,000 in seed capital to transform innovative ideas into sustainable enterprises.

Application Process and Key Details

Applications are to be submitted through TEFConnect, the Foundation’s proprietary digital platform. The application period runs from January 1, 2025, to March 1, 2025. Interested entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply early to secure their spot.

Eligibility:

Open to African entrepreneurs with scalable ideas or businesses not older than five years.

Applicants must be at least 18 years old.

About the Tony Elumelu Foundation

Founded in 2010, the Tony Elumelu Foundation is Africa’s leading philanthropic organisation dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs, fostering economic growth, and driving poverty reduction across the continent.

Since 2015, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme has trained 2.5 million young Africans through its digital platform, TEFConnect, disbursing over $100 million in direct funding to more than 21,000 entrepreneurs. Collectively, these entrepreneurs have created over 800,000 jobs and generated $4.2 billion in revenue.

The Foundation’s mission is driven by the philosophy of Africapitalism, positioning the private sector and entrepreneurs at the forefront of Africa’s economic and social transformation.

For more information, contact moyo.awotile@tonyelumelufoundation.org.

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TECHDIGEST – The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, Prof. Mohammad Haruna, has said Nigeria needs to invest in technology because only countries investing in tech can succeed.

He said it was time to revive craft schools, technical and vocational centres, and technical colleges to train a critical mass of artisans needed by the country.

He noted that the quality of human capacity in a nation shaped and determined its progress.

A statement said Haruna spoke at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the NASENI Skill Acquisition Centre, Bagudo in Kebbi State. He explained that the construction of skill development centers was to fill the technology gap vacuum and a shortage of artisans in the country.

He said, “It is the quality of human capacity in a nation that shapes and determines its progress and sustainable development and not commodity or natural resources.

“Experience has shown that countries that invest adequately in technology acquisition and deployment are the leaders in socio-economic development even if they import all raw material needs of their economy.”

READ ALSO: Between NITDA Bill and NCC Mandate

He added, “Craft schools, technical and vocational centers and technical colleges to train critical mass of artisans needed by Nigeria have either been abolished in most states of the federation or have deteriorated in structures and in workshop equipment and laboratories.

“The skill development centers approved for establishment by President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rted.) for NASENI across the nation such as the one we are commencing construction in Kebbi are designed to meet the challenges of technology gap and fill the vacuum created by shortage of artisans, craftsmen, and women.”

“The centres will be adequately equipped with basics to advanced modern training facilities and equipment for training competitive workforce ready for self-employment generation and entrepreneurship.”

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TECHDIGEST – Tony Elumelu Foundation has opened applications for its entrepreneurship programme 2023.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation focuses on core sustainable development goals, pointing to empowering women and men across Africa, catalyzing economic growth, driving poverty eradication and ensuring job creation.

With beneficiaries spread across all African Regions – Central, East, Northern, Southern and Western Africa– Tony Elumelu Foundation upholds the private sector’s role in developing the African economy and creating both social and economic wealth.

The programme seeks entrepreneurs with the most innovative, high-potential business ideas across all 54 African countries. Since 2015 with a commitment seed capital of $5,000, the Foundation also offers mentorship and business management training to entrepreneurs. $102 million was invested in the TEF Entrepreneurship programme while $80 million was paid directly as seed capital to support and grow African startups.

Benefits

$5,000 nonrefundable seed capital

World-class business management training

Mentorship

Global networking opportunities

Access to key networks and markets

Eligibility

Applicants can be from any one of the 54 African countries

Applicants must be 18 years and above, and must not be considered a minor in their country of residence. No upper-limit age restriction

Applicants can be outstanding African entrepreneurs running existing startups with high growth potential and aspiring business owners with transformative ideas

All businesses must be idea or early stage, within 0 to 3 years

Application must focus on one business only

Business ideas must be for-profit and must be the original works of applicants

How to apply

To participate in the Tony Elumelu Foundation programme 2023, apply now while the portal is still open.

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TECHDIGEST – The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, has disclosed that information and communication technology, entrepreneurship skills are major solution to graduates unemployment in Nigeria.

He decried the trend among Nigeria graduates chasing government employment rather than venturing into entrepreneurship which gives them the impetus to employ others, thereby bridging the unemployment gap in the country.

According to Pantami, “we cannot be able to be proud of our education and our system until we are able to produce students and graduates that could do what ever we wanted for our country.”

The minister of communication and digital economy, made the remark while speaking on the occasion of the prize presentation ceremony for the Katsina National Talent Hunt Challenge which took place in Katsina on Tuesday.

Pantami said:  “As the situation is today, most of our young people after graduating from school are not in anyway thinking of entrepreneurship, they are only interested in looking for government employment.

The minister of communication and digital economy, reiterated that the country’s major challenge today is not unemployment but more of unemployability, stating that “there are many job opportunities in engineering, ICT, oil and gas but most of our youths with certificate if you employ them, you will discover that they will not be able to do the work you have employed them to do. So on daily basis foreigners are coming to Nigeria to come and do the job for us.

Most of our technical people are engaged in administrative work, why we rely on other people to come and do the technical job.

“So, the Main challenge is not unemployment, I am not discarding unemployment but the major challenge is unemployability – A situation where I cannot be able to do the technical work that my certificate has stored that I have studied. So it is because of this, that I am very proud of what His Excellency, Governor Masari has initiated here and I think it is good for other governor’s in the north to immediately copy from him.”

Using the prize winners of the Katsina National Talent Hunt Challenge as a case in point, Pantami said, “these people we are here to celebrate today, by implication are potential job providers. But if we are only here to celebrate people like my humble self, with plenty degrees, we will be celebrating potential job seekers where there are no opportunities.”

Consequently, Pantami emphasised that “the only way to improve the Nigeria economy is “to address the issue of unemployment and unemployability by giving more priority and preference to youths that have brilliant ideas and are willing to be self-reliant so that they will be able to employ others in return.”

Pantami therefore urged government at all levels and well meaning individuals on “the need to focus more on identifying our brilliant variants, the young people, by giving them all the necessary support they need in order to bring a paradigm shift with which we would be producing potential job providers instead of potential job seekers.”

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TECHDIGEST – The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, has said that the Federal Government will not relent in its efforts towards promoting digital innovation and entrepreneurship among Nigerian youths.

The minister gave the assurance on Tuesday while commissioning an Information Technology (IT) Innovation Centre named after President Muhammadu Buhari in Katsina State.

He insisted that doing so would make the youths become job providers and contribute to the growth of the nation’s economy.

Pantami said the world economy had moved from being dominated by those in the oil and gas sector to those in Information and Communication Technology.

According to him, the ambition of the Federal Government is to have individuals and institutions that would attain greatness and wealth through IT.

“Nigeria needs to create a conducive environment and mentorship that would encourage talented youths in the IT sector. This informed the federal government’s decision to build the IT centre in Katsina State.

“Digital Innovation and Digital Entrepreneurship are the prerequisites for the digital economy.

“Leading nations today in Europe, Switzerland, Asia, South Korea and the United States that excel in digital innovation and digital entrepreneurship have a strong economy.

“Nigeria cannot and should not be left behind.

“That is why this kind of IT hub was built where our youths’ needs in IT would be monitored.

“We shall continue to mentor them so that they will end up being job providers and successful IT individuals such as Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates of this world.

“A centre like this will help the federal and the state governments to discover our talented youths and mentor them so that they will become job providers and contribute to the nation’s economy,’’ he said.

Speaking at the event, Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State also assured that the state would continue to encourage youths to embrace IT.

The governor said the newly commissioned IT hub would be put into good use under the state Institute of Science and Technology. (NAN)

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Kashifu Tasks South-South Youths on Innovation, Entrepreneurship for Job Creation

TECHDIGEST – The Director-General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu challenged youths from the South-south geopolitical region to utilize their God-given talents through digital innovations to become entrepreneurs and job creators.

The Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, represented by Dr. Salihu Abdulkareem of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, made this remark during the south-south HACKATHON challenge for young and innovative minds from the region held at the Senate Chambers of the University of Calabar.

He explained that “driving digital innovation and entrepreneurship by challenging Nigeria’s youth to create and develop solutions from inception to commercialization will, no doubt, boost the country’s economy.”

The challenge’s theme is “Innovation-Driven Ideas for addressing local challenges in Health, Government, Transportation, Financial Services and Smart city in Nigeria for Social and Economic Development.”

The DG asserted that digital innovation and entrepreneurship would help fast-track the recovery of other traditional economic sectors by supporting the provision and adoption of indigenous and tailor-made solutions for nationwide implementation of the policy through automation, intelligent processes, and ICT solutions.

He further revealed that NITDA Hackathon 2022 aims to find solutions towards building a digital Nigeria, adding that talented Nigerians are challenged to come up with clearly defined ideas and prototypes of solutions around agriculture, logistics, and security for the swift growth and development of the country.

According to Kashifu, “African continent is full of problems waiting to be solved, this presents the next biggest market worldwide. Nigeria, in particular, has a rapidly growing youthful population by which taking advantage of the market will lead to the creation of jobs, solutions, and revenue flow for the country”, he added.

The DG maintained that collective responsibility is needed to achieve the positive impacts, for which the nation yearns for solutions. He encouraged the young innovators not to relent in their various efforts towards tackling the problems bedeviling the country, saying that such solutions will go a long way in addressing development issues.

He appeals to teeming youths from the region to always showcase their talents which will serve as channels for solutions to some of the problems that require immediate panacea.

He revealed that the program also provides an avenue for young Nigerians to contribute their quota in the solution-finding and provides opportunities for creating jobs both directly and indirectly, keying into the Digital Economy policy that will facilitate the swift growth and development of the country.

The Vice-Chancellor, University of Calabar, Professor Florence Banji Obi, ably represented by Professor Idingesit Akpabio, Chairman, Committee of Deans, the University of Calabar, in her earlier remarks, appreciated NITDA for choosing the University of Calabar for the program. She commended the initiatives and the manner of their implementation across the country for the growth of our nation.

She commented that technology is changing how we do things and has fast-tracked operations processes. “Programs like this are needed to keep the young people busy solving the problems faced by the country, more so that such programs give an avenue for teeming youth to showcase their talents which will help solve those challenges,” she added.

Prof. Obi encouraged participants not to stop at solution finding after this program but to go further in actualizing what they have started, which she believes will bring about solutions to the problems faced in the country.

Winners from the pitching context received cash prizes ranging from N1.5million for the overall Winners, N1 million for the first runner-ups, and N500,000 to the second runner-ups as the 3-day event came to a close with fanfare and beautiful memories.

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TECH DIGEST – In as perfect a response as one could give to social media click baiters alluding to ritualistic and illicit sources behind the “spraying” display at his mother’s burial ceremony, Obinna Iyiegbu, popularly known as Obi Cubana while speaking to BBC Pidgin, emphatically stated; ” native doctor no fit give you money, becos im children, na dem dey fetch water for stream” (Translated: Native doctor cannot make you rich, because they are his children that fetch water from the stream).

Obi Cubana is from Oba, Anambra State and is an Igbo man and on the weekend when friends and associates came to do him honour at his mother’s burial, he came face to face with a most distasteful stereotypical diatribe typically reserved for “Igbo’s” (money ritualist) – a most disgusting tag not founded in any reality.

This mindless allusion that casts a whole race of people in such light is tiresome and defies reason, especially when it is the Igbo race.

I stand to be corrected, when I say, the Igbo’s are the most hard-working, industrious, ingenious people on the African continent and in the top echelon on the face of the earth.

The Igbo man dares, where others are reticent. He stoops to conquer, eyes on the prize, suffering and taking indignities in his stride where others are prideful.

He is pragmatic and uniquely wired to be ingenious where others are stymied or weighted by inaction and resigned to their fate.

It is of this stock that Obi Cubana is from and the overwhelming majority of their success stories are won through a tenacious will to succeed and lawfully at that.

Yes, the show of opulence in the spraying of money might put some “moralistic” noses out of joint, but such displays have been made a national sport by Nigerian elite “misleaders” who have institutionalized and elevated the display of conspicuous consumption to an art form.

At least, those who graced the Oba event have not been tagged amongst the lot, who loot our collective commonwealth and hide humongous amounts in pits, inside pillow, under cooking pot, animal gullets or in “Panama papers” shrouded foreign accounts.

And yes, even though I am not in sync with the “heavy” display of money in Oba, my personal disposition does not deify me as a “god” to become judgmental. If anything, I understand the manifest power of “single stories” once taken hold.

Obi Cubana, who in recent days, had to offer a public clarification that he was not Cubana Chief Priest, has amazingly up to his mother’s burial kept a low and unflashy profile considering he is an entertainment big-shot.

The show-biz industry all over the world is one where it’s players are forever in an unending quest for their own peculiar holy grail, which entails going to any length to get “noticed” and “talked about”.

It is in this context that the spectacle of “Oba” should be situated. Obi Cubana and majority of his guests are of the show-biz world!

For those who got on very high horses taking subjective measurements of the amount of money rain in Oba, for surely their grouse must be in the measurement, as money rain is a national sport that takes place on a daily basis in ceremonies across Nigeria, then they should know that their commentary has only succeeded in making the event a “dream” show-biz success – “getting noticed and talked about”.

As for the odious stereotypical vituperations thrown at Obi Cubana and his “men”, it is a given that they, just like the mudslingers and indeed every other Nigerian, if found wanting in acquiring dubious wealth will face justice according to law.

Under no circumstances otherwise, should anyone be venomously castigated for their way of life just because it differs from another’s.

Obi Cubana’s story of fighting the odds to become successful as told on BBC Pidgin is a very Nigerian story and very uniquely a storied theme among Igbo’s and many such testimonies abound.

His single story is a mirror to countless others and I can testify in witness to a few myself as indeed I am sure many can.

That there are evil people who are participants in ritualistic killings for money rituals is not in question. That such ritualistic acts is prevalent across the country and not typical to any particular place is empirically not in doubt. However, not every young man who “makes it” is a ritualist. Until proven otherwise, young people in Nigeria who succeed in the face of dire odds deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Talking to BBC Pidgin, Obi Cubana said; “Work, pray, be good. Dem no dey cut soap for anybody for this world” (translated: Work, pray and be good. There is no easy route to success)

Nigeria’s super cop, Abba Kyari, Obi’s friend and a man who I am sure, has to be very particular in his associations, had this to say of Obi Cubana; “Obinna Iyiegbu popularly known as Obi Cubana is one of the most hardworking entrepreneurs and humble personalities that I have known for many years. He is a brother and good friend” Full stop

Victor Ikhatalor, ambassador of Nigerian Industry and Business. He can be reached via email: kingjvic7@gmail.com

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