Bakole, who was represented by the National Programme Officer, UNIDO Regional Office, Dr. Osuji Otu, said there were insufficient clean technology schemes available to identify the most promising entrepreneurs, promote innovations and provide adequate support for Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.
This was disclosed at the National Forum and Award Ceremony of the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme (GCIP), organised by the Federal Government (FG), United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and Global Environmental Facility (GEF) in Lagos.
He said the project would help SMEs, innovation hubs and start- ups to compete in the global market and connect them to potential investors, customers and partners through the Global Cleantech Network.
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Adeleke Mamora, represented by the Director (Environmental Science and Technology), Mr. Peter Ekweozoh, said the journey to position Nigeria’s tech innovators in the global scale and deepen green tech across critical sectors of the economy started five years ago.
He noted that the energy sector was capable of positioning Nigeria on a global scale, adding that the government was ready to work with the private sector to deploy green technology throughout the country.
According to him, the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation was embarking on Technology Needs Assessment for Climate Change Mitigation and Adoption in Nigeria’s Vulnerable Sectors. It also came up with the idea of calling for entries from budding entrepreneurs and innovators to proffer sustainable solutions.
“Out of 25 interested participants, three promising innovators and entrepreneurs emerged the winners of the project. The winner left the ceremony with $10,000, first run-up with $7,500, while the second run up with $5000. These tech enthusiasts would proceed further with bigger projects for the benefit of Nigeria,” he said.
