As part of plans to promote development of indigenous technology in Nigeria, the Bank of Industry (BoI) has entered into partnership with the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and other stakeholders to stimulate innovations that will boost real sector growth.
The bank has also honoured winners of this year’s National Engineering Innovation Prize (NEIP) for developing engineering solutions for the real sector.
According to a statement from BoI, the Bank sponsored the awards of financial prizes to the winners in continuation of its support for excellence and to encourage other enterprising innovators with attractive and commercially viable home-grown innovative products and services to showcase their talents.
“We recognise the need to continually support initiatives that will promote technology and engineering as a rewarding career path particularly among young entrepreneurs in the country. BoI congratulates the NSE, the NEIP 2015 winners and hope that the ideas generated will be translated to commercially viable business plans that can attract required financial support and eventually result in employment generation and wealth creation for the award winners”, the statement read.
It would be recalled that the bank had earlier this year advocated reverse engineering to drive real sector growth, noting that over-dependence on technology transfer or importation of industrial machines would further limit the country’s potential of developing local competencies and industrialisation.
Some of the winners include Oyewusi Olayemi who emerged winner under the ICT Category for developing a Mobile Voting System; Onyedum Obumneme, winner, Agriculture Category for developing an integrated Zero-Waste Poultry Production System; Osunmune Obiajulu Michael, winner, Infrastructure Category- for developing Renewable Hybrid Inverter System; and Olufemi Odeleye, winner, Manufacturing Category for developing The Tryctor: Nigeria’s first Mini Tractor.
