UNDP, TETFund sign MoU to position Nigerian universities at centre of Africa’s innovation economy
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to reposition Nigeria’s tertiary institutions as drivers of innovation, digital transformation and economic competitiveness.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Elsie Attafuah, UNDP resident representative in Nigeria, described the partnership as “a defining moment” in the country’s effort to build an innovation-driven and knowledge-powered economy.
Attafuah said the agreement followed months of joint consultation and co-creation, culminating in the national innovation and digital transformation partnership programme (NIDTPP) — an initiative designed to transform universities and polytechnics into engines of creativity, inclusive growth and technology-driven development.
She highlighted early gains of the collaboration, referencing the ’emerging mining tech unipod at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, and the ‘artificial intelligence unipod at the University of Lagos — state-of-the-art facilities accelerating mineral value addition, geoscience advancement, clean-energy solutions, artificial intelligence deployment and next-generation skill development.
“These are not isolated projects. They belong to the first cohort of eight university innovation ports and one polytechnic port ready for activation, from Borno to Benue, Abia to Akwa Ibom, all aligned with Nigeria’s economic priorities,” she said.
According to her, the Unipods are “purpose-built innovation engines” that will link researchers to industry, investors and markets while strengthening the country’s competitiveness through research commercialisation.
She said the partnership leverages TETFund’s wide institutional reach and UNDP’s continental innovation assets such as the Timbuktu Pan-African innovation initiative, placing Nigerian higher institutions firmly at the centre of Africa’s emerging innovation landscape.
Attafuah applauded TETFund’s longstanding role in strengthening the nation’s tertiary education system, noting that the Fund has supported infrastructure, expanded research and trained thousands of scholars nationwide.
“UNDP is honoured to partner with you in this next phase — one focused deliberately on innovation, digital transformation and the knowledge economy,” she said.
Sonny Echono, TETFund’s executive secretary, said the MoU is “a momentous day” that aligns with the Fund’s reforms to overhaul curriculum delivery and equip young Nigerians with globally competitive skills.
He noted that global demographic trends show that countries like Nigeria will supply a significant share of the future workforce, making innovation-focused skill acquisition a priority.
“To fill that gap, we must prepare our youth adequately. That is why we are replicating innovation hubs on our campuses and now scaling them up significantly,” Echono said.
He revealed that TETFund has tripled its allocation for innovation hubs in the 2025 intervention cycle, with efforts to fully integrate the facilities into academic programmes and development needs.
Echono expressed confidence that UNDP’s global expertise and credibility will help accelerate learning, strengthen programme design and expand impact across the higher education sector.
“This partnership will make our growth faster, our systems stronger and our institutions more relevant to the communities they serve,” he said, adding that the alliance supports President Bola Tinubu’s transformation agenda in the sector.
In a joint statement, Christabel Ginsberg, UNDP’s public engagement, outreach and partnerships lead, and Abdulmumin Oniyangi, TETFund’s director of corporate affairs, reaffirmed both organisations’ commitment to empowering institutions, nurturing innovators and transforming research outputs into job-creating enterprises.
They said Nigeria is entering a “defining decade” where innovation, digital capacity and knowledge ecosystems will drive economic competitiveness.
According to the statement, the partnership — implemented through NIDTPP — will focus on five strategic pillars, including institutionalising innovation across tertiary institutions, strengthening Nigeria’s human capital for transformative innovation, accelerating commercialisation and frontier technology adoption, expanding sustainable financing for innovation and enhancing governance, policy and impact-measurement systems.
Through the MoU, both parties aim to activate eight university innovation pods and one polytechnic pod, upgrade 9+ existing TETFund-supported innovation facilities, establish or strengthen 15–20 technology transfer offices, equip over 500,000 students and researchers with digital and innovation skills, support 1,500–2,000, university-linked startups and commercialise 5,000 research outputs.
The organisations said the partnership signals a new phase in Nigeria’s pursuit of innovation-led growth — one that places tertiary institutions at the heart of job creation, prosperity and national competitiveness.
