The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in partnership with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is set to launch iHatch, a start-up incubation programme aimed at increasing the number of innovation-driven enterprises by Nigerian youths.
The incubation programme which will be mid-wived by NITDA’s subsidiary, the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), will provide an excellent opportunity for startups with innovative business ideas along with a prototype of their products or services.
A statement by NITDA’s head, corporate affairs and external relations, Mrs. Hadiza Umar, said iHatch is a five-month free intensive incubation programme designed to help Nigerian entrepreneurs perfect their business ideas through a series of coaching, lectures and boot camps, to generate viable and scalable business models. iHatch focuses on youth, innovation, entrepreneurship and technology.
Participating startups will receive free offline and online interactive training from experienced coaches and mentors from over the world. Other benefits include free co-working space for the duration of the programme and investment opportunities.
“iHatch seeks to establish a programme that will accelerate the process of taking ideas to impact; hence, providing the much-needed jobs for our teeming youths, and nurturing that entrepreneurial spirit in them, to catalyse the Nigerian digital economy to the next level,” said the director-general of NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi.
