The Emerging African Innovation Leaders (EAIL), Nigeria chapter, says production revolution in Nigeria will depend largely on the convergence of technologies such as 3D printing, internet of things (IoT), advanced robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), synthetic biology, etc.
The leaders, therefore, advise authorities to embrace knowledge sharing in innovation dynamics and sustainable solutions, stressing that future revolution in production will only occur because of a confluence of these technologies.
The association gave this advice at EAIL Nigeria country day at the Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State.
Demi Oye, CEO, Green Energy & Biofuels (GEB), Nigeria, affirmed at the event that the involvement of these digital technologies would revolutionise the production sector.
He said in line with the mission of the association, there was the need to promote partnerships and knowledge sharing across public and private sectors on policy, technologies and other measures that were necessary to enable leap frogging of Nigeria to the next production revolution.
The EAIL project was conceived during the Italian G7 Presidency and is focused on boosting African prosperity through the embracement of the Next Production Revolution (NPR).
The project is funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), jointly managed by Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino and involves six African countries – Tunisia, Niger Republic, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya and Mozambique.
As part of the programme, each participating country is expected to host a Country Day where it will create further visibility on the EAIL programme, engage with stakeholders and strengthen the network of African Innovation Leaders.
It also provides an opportunity to solicit support and commitment towards the establishment of a Next Production Revolution Competence Centre (NPRCC) in Nigeria, and implementation of some pilot projects to demonstrate the next production revolution.
“Market opportunities of about $8 billion revenue potential is available for Nigeria mini-grid market, $3 trillion investment opportunity in Nigeria’s transport sector, $13 billion for E-commerce sector while Africa’s largest mobile market has a potential 162 million subscribers and a penetration rate of 84 percent, ” Oye said.
The representative of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Kanayo Iwuchukwu, told the gathering that the association was making effort to enhance innovations in schools and reduce the gap between industry and academia.
Toward achieving this, he said there was an existing partnership with the deans of engineering faculties across universities, stressing that MAN was currently developing a curriculum for cement production.
In a remark, Sanni Haruna, executive vice chairman, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), said the initiative would assist NASENI to achieve its mandate and assured EAIL of supporting its project.
