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By IT Edge News.Africa analysts
Three years ago, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) was largely known for research prototypes that rarely reached Nigerian consumers. Today, that narrative has shifted dramatically.
Since the appointment of Khalil Suleiman Halilu as Executive Vice Chairman/CEO in September 2023, NASENI has undergone an institutional transformation that has produced over 40 market-ready products—from electric vehicles and solar irrigation systems to CNG conversion solutions and medical diagnostics. The agency has moved from a research-focused entity to an action-oriented engine of technology commercialisation.
RELATED: NASENI launches $25,000 Xceler8 Accelerator to turn Nigerian innovations into businesses
But as NASENI celebrates this milestone, the road ahead is fraught with challenges: deep-rooted consumer skepticism toward locally made products, chronic infrastructure deficits, and the difficulty of sustaining private-sector capital in a high-inflation economy.
The Vision: A Connected System from Idea to Industry
Speaking on the milestone, Halilu reflected on what has changed—and what must still be built.
“Nigeria has capable engineers, researchers and innovators. What has often been missing is a connected system that can identify promising ideas, develop them, finance them, manufacture them and take them to the market,” Halilu said.
Adding:
“Closing that gap has defined our work at NASENI over the past three years.”
That “gap” was wide. When Halilu took office, NASENI’s reputation was built on potential, not production. Today, the agency operates through a framework anchored in three principles:Â Creation, Collaboration, and Commercialisation.
Institutional Reform: The Foundation of Transformation
NASENI began its transformation not with grand product launches, but with internal housekeeping.
The agency established Project Management and Implementation Management Offices, reoriented its budget toward measurable deliverables, strengthened internal audit and reporting systems, digitized key processes, and introduced an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to improve efficiency and accountability.
These reforms have been complemented by new frameworks for accelerated technology transfer, green industrial development, and innovation commercialisation. Under Halilu, NASENI has forged over 50 partnerships and secured more than $3.25 billion in investment interests.
Building an Innovation-to-Industry Pipeline
To ensure Nigerian innovations do not end as prototypes, NASENI has developed an interconnected pipeline spanning talent discovery, research funding, incubation, commercialisation, and market access.
InnovateNaija
The programme identifies promising innovators across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, ensuring talent is discovered wherever it exists.
NASENI Innovation Hub
Provides product-development support, mentorship, and connections to investors and industry partners.
Research Commercialisation Grant Programme
In 2025, NASENI awarded ₦229 million to 14 researchers across agriculture, clean energy, healthcare, mobility, and digital security.
DELT-Her
A targeted initiative providing funding, mentorship, and commercialisation opportunities specifically for women in engineering.
Xceler8
The newly launched programme provides up to $25,000 per innovator and elite mentorship to post-MVP engineering startups, building a continuous pipeline of market-ready products.
DELTA-2
A Nigeria–Czech Republic programme supporting applied research, experimental development, and technology transfer.
FutureMakers
Introduces children and young people to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
SheFly
Trains women in drone technology.
Reverse Japa Programme
Seeks to reconnect Nigerian researchers and innovators abroad with opportunities at home.
“The strength of the model lies in the connection between its components,” Halilu explained. “A competition can discover an inventor, but that inventor still needs product-development support, finance, manufacturing capacity and access to customers. We are building these components as one connected system rather than as isolated programmes.”
40 Products, One Mission: Local Manufacturing
NASENI’s product portfolio now spans multiple sectors:
Renewable Energy:Â Solar irrigation pumps, solar home systems, solar streetlights, portable solar generators, batteries, inverters
Mobility:Â Electric vehicles, electric tricycles (NASENI Electric Keke), CNG conversion solutions
Technology:Â Smartphones, tablets, laptops, televisions, household appliances
Healthcare:Â Rapid diagnostic kits
Agriculture:Â Clean cookstoves, solar-powered irrigation systems
Education:Â STEM learning tools
But developing products is only half the battle. NASENI is also investing in the industrial platforms needed to manufacture them at scale.
Legacy Initiatives: The Platforms That Will Outlast Any Single Product
Solar Industrial Park, Gora, Nasarawa State
A 40-hectare integrated platform for solar research, manufacturing, testing, and deployment—designed to move Nigeria from deploying imported solar systems to participating in the solar manufacturing value chain.
Abuja Technology Village
Home to an electric vehicle assembly facility supporting local production of EVs and the NASENI Electric Keke.
CNG Conversion and Reverse-Engineering Centres, Abuja
Provides vehicle conversion services, technical training, and a platform for local fabrication and adaptation of CNG components.
NASENI–Troment Rapid Diagnostics Factory, Abuja
Strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to produce essential medical diagnostic products locally, supporting health security and reducing dependence on imported diagnostics.
Centre of Excellence for Precision Manufacturing, Abuja
Building capacity to produce high-accuracy components for aerospace, defence, automotive, renewable energy, electronics, and medical-device industries.
NASCAV Technologies and UAV School
Based at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Kaduna, providing training in UAV design, assembly, operation, maintenance, and recovery for defence, agriculture, mapping, and surveillance applications.
NASENI HoldCo and NASENI Showroom
HoldCo is positioned as the commercial vehicle for market-ready technologies, while the Showroom provides a permanent platform where investors, procurement institutions, and the public can interact with locally developed products.
Agriculture and Food Security: Irrigate Nigeria
Through the Irrigate Nigeria Project, NASENI is deploying solar-powered irrigation technologies to reduce dependence on rainfall and fossil-fuel-powered systems.
The National Asset Restoration, Refurbishment and Redeployment Project is recovering idle tractors and other public machinery and returning them to productive use, extending asset lifespans and supporting agricultural mechanisation.
In Kano, NASENI is implementing a coal-based fertiliser manufacturing project through bilateral technology transfer, intended to build domestic fertiliser-production capability and reduce exposure to imported agricultural inputs.
Challenges: The Roadblocks Ahead
Despite significant progress, NASENI faces formidable challenges that could determine whether its transformation succeeds or stalls.
Challenge 1: Market Trust and Consumer Skepticism
Perhaps the most persistent hurdle is overcoming a deep-rooted cultural preference for imported machinery and technology. Building long-term consumer trust for locally produced complex systems—like electric vehicles and medical kits—requires flawless quality control and consistent reliability.
One industry observer noted: “Nigerians have been burned by locally made products that failed. Winning back that trust will take more than government announcements; it will take products that work, every time.”
Challenge 2: Infrastructure and Supply Chain Deficits
Nigeria’s erratic power grid and logistics gridlock present significant manufacturing hurdles. Relying on imported raw components for items like lithium batteries or solar cells leaves NASENI vulnerable to global supply shocks and foreign exchange volatility.
A manufacturing expert commented: “You can have the best factory in the world, but if the power goes out for six hours a day or you can’t get components through the ports, you’re not producing at scale.”
Challenge 3: Sustaining Private Sector Capital
While NASENI’s “3Cs” framework (Collaboration, Creation, Commercialisation) has succeeded in de-risking projects, converting venture capital interest into sustained, long-term industrial funding remains difficult in a high-inflation macroeconomic environment.
The Human Element: Developing People Behind the Industries
Halilu has emphasized that industrialisation cannot be sustained without simultaneously developing the people required to design, operate, and maintain industrial systems.
Skills Acquisition Centres
Training young Nigerians in electrical installation, solar technology, automotive maintenance, tailoring, and other productive trades.
NASENI Sustainable Empowerment Programme
Combines practical skills, productive tools, and locally developed technologies to improve livelihoods and household resilience.
Sustainable and Emerging Technologies Institute
Based at Bayero University Kano, connecting academic research, emerging technologies, industrial requirements, and enterprise development.
Innovation Campus, Federal Capital Territory
An integrated innovation district bringing together research, product development, advanced manufacturing, startup incubation, skills training, and testing facilities.
Partnerships: The Value Beyond Agreements
NASENI has established more than 50 local and international partnerships across renewable energy, automotive technology, agriculture, health manufacturing, defence, aerospace, research, and commercialisation.
However, Halilu is clear: the value of these partnerships will be measured not by the number of agreements signed, but by the technology transferred, skills developed, production capacity established, investment mobilised, and products delivered.
Through collaboration with the Bureau of Public Procurement and other public institutions, NASENI is supporting the “Nigeria First” policy by promoting the adoption of credible locally developed technologies in government procurement.
The Next Phase: Scale, Standards, and Measurable Impact
NASENI says the next phase of its transformation will focus on:
- Scaling commercial production
- Deepening local content
- Improving standards and certification
- Increasing factory utilisation
- Expanding market adoption
The agency will also strengthen the measurement of outcomes, including:
- Units produced and sold
- Direct jobs created
- Local suppliers engaged
- Import savings generated
- People trained and employed
- Technologies transferred
- Private investment mobilised
“The number of products, projects or partnerships is important, but it is not the final measure of success,” Halilu said.
“The real test is whether our products are adopted, our factories operate sustainably, our partnerships transfer useful capabilities, our trainees secure livelihoods, and more value remains within the Nigerian economy.”
A Legacy in the Making
Three years into the transformation, NASENI is evolving from a collection of research assets into a connected national platform for technology transfer, manufacturing, and commercialisation.
The agency reaffirmed its commitment to supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s industrialisation agenda by transforming Nigerian ideas into competitive products, productive enterprises, skilled jobs, and industries.
“I do not want NASENI to be remembered simply as an agency that installed equipment or launched projects. I want it to be recognised as the institution that helped Nigeria build the capacity to manufacture what it needs,” Halilu said.
The Road Ahead
As NASENI enters its next phase, the agency acknowledges that while some factories and products are already operational, others remain at the development, testing, or commercialisation stage. The agency says it will continue to distinguish completed outcomes from ongoing projects and future targets as part of its commitment to transparency and accountability.
“The work is still in progress, but the direction is clear,” Halilu asserted.
Adding:
“Nigeria’s industrial future will be built through capable institutions, skilled people, competitive products and factories that produce. That is the system we are building at NASENI.”
