Nigeria is moving to introduce common standards for innovation hubs across the country as the Federal Government looks to spread tech growth beyond Lagos and Abuja. The proposed framework is designed to help hubs improve startup support, develop digital talent and turn more ideas into businesses.
Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, announced the move at the National Innovation Hub Standards Framework Workshop in Abuja on August 20, 2026. The workshop was organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, to review and validate the proposed framework.
The proposed framework will give innovation hubs a common way to assess their operations and identify areas that need improvement. NITDA said it contains seven dimensions and about 35 assessment criteria.
The aim is not simply to create more hubs, but to improve the quality of those already operating. Hubs will be able to assess their strengths, identify weaknesses and work towards higher levels of development.
Innovation hubs include spaces where entrepreneurs can access facilities, mentorship, skills development and other support needed to turn ideas into businesses.
Nigeria has more than 339 innovation hubs across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, according to figures cited at the workshop. However, many of them are concentrated in Lagos, Abuja and about 10 other states.
The Federal Government wants this concentration to change. The proposed standards are expected to provide a pathway for hubs in less-developed ecosystems to grow and offer better support to entrepreneurs.
The government specifically wants to see more successful startups and innovations coming from states such as Zamfara, Yobe, Osun and Jigawa, rather than having most of the country’s tech activity centred in major cities.
Tijani said Nigeria’s digital economy can be viewed in three layers: infrastructure, technology platforms and the applications built by innovators.
The government is already investing in the first two layers through projects involving broadband, fibre-optic networks, digital identity, cloud infrastructure and other digital systems. But the minister said these investments will have limited impact if the people building businesses and solutions on top of them are not properly supported.
Nigeria’s planned 90,000-kilometre fibre-optic network is another major part of the government’s digital infrastructure plans. The government has also announced plans to deploy about 3,700 telecommunications towers in underserved communities.
The push for stronger standards comes as many Nigerian innovation hubs face basic operating challenges.
A May 2026 report by the Innovation Support Network found that more than 70 per cent of the digital innovation hubs surveyed operated on yearly revenues below $50,000. The report also highlighted rising electricity costs, unstable internet services and weak infrastructure as major challenges.
This means standards alone may not solve every problem. Hubs also need reliable power, internet access, funding and strong links to businesses and investors if they are expected to support startups at scale.
The government also wants universities to play a bigger role in the digital economy.
NITDA called for stronger collaboration between academia and industry so that universities can produce graduates with skills that match the needs of the technology sector. This could help reduce the gap between what students learn and what startups and technology companies need.
The government has already started pushing this wider goal through initiatives such as University Innovation Ports, which are designed to turn universities into centres for innovation, enterprise and job creation.
Nigeria’s next challenge is not simply having more innovation hubs. It is making sure those hubs can consistently help people build successful businesses.
If the proposed standards are properly implemented alongside better infrastructure, funding and industry partnerships, more entrepreneurs outside Lagos and Abuja could gain access to the support needed to build technology businesses.
For Nigeria’s digital economy, that wider spread of innovation could be just as important as the infrastructure being built to support it.
