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The State of Israel and the Federal Republic of Nigeria have robust bilateral ties that have focused on boosting economic cooperation and support in various sectors for the mutual benefit of both countries.
The ties between both countries that have lasted for decades have ventured into new areas that are shaping the circumstances of the modern economy. Realizing the potential and immense talents that abound in Nigeria, the Israeli government decided to initiate the Innovation Fellowship for Aspiring Inventors and Researchers (i-FAIR) programme.
i-FAIR is an initiative for raising a generation of innovators, inventors, entrepreneurs and researchers in Nigeria. It was initiated to bridge the gap between Nigerian start-ups and access to expertise, equipment, mentorship and investment to help participants transform their ideas into inventions and prototypes for commercialization.
The i-FAIR programme is coordinated between the Israeli Embassy and the Office of the Nigerian Vice President. So far, the programme, which phase 3 has just been launched in Abuja, has produced a great number of beneficiaries from Nigeria, who have keyed into the previous 2 phases to maximize access to Israeli digital technological prowess to create massive jobs for the country by “utilizing and creating a bond through an ecosystem of innovation in Nigeria.”
The Innov8 Center in Abuja has been home to i-FAIR, as well as other programmes- and all the individuals in the team, mentors and experts have made the platform productive. The Israeli Government has also increased its interest to expand the partnership with the Federal Government to create one million jobs in Nigeria by supporting the Nigerian innovators and inventors with more digital skills and the needed investment and infrastructure.
Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman, stated this during the official launch of the Third edition of i-FAIR programme in Abuja on Thursday June 8, 2023. The Israeli envoy explained that the move is in line with the desire of President Bola Tinubu to improve Nigeria’s economy, through digital innovation and invention.
“Israel, which is a world leader in digital economy and is world leader in attracting investment and also, investing in other places, we very much buy into this vision and we want to be a partner with President Tinubu and his administration, to help create the environment for investment and to help create those million jobs in a digital economy.
“And that is why we are so excited to be here today because the I-Fair programme for innovators and for entrepreneurs, is exactly one of those programmes that will help to create a million jobs in a digital economy. They will help to create investment, they will help to create a new generation of Nigerian entrepreneurs, of Nigerian innovators, of Nigerians who could create more work, who could create more jobs, and who could create a greater economy,” Freeman said.
Freeman had explained that the i-Fair programme is about enhancing the capacity of Nigerians who have ideas and concept but are struggling to go to the next level by tapping from the rich resources of Israeli innovators and entrepreneurs to improve their talent
“What we want to do through the i-Fair programme is to provide mentorship and leadership and help both from Nigerians who have proven themselves of being incredibly successful, but also from Israel as well, using Israel’s experience as a country who has 45 percent of our GDP as based on human capital where we have the highest number of startups per capita anywhere in the world and our investment in research and development as you have in any other country in the world as well,” Freeman said.
Also speaking, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, an adviser to the programme, said the collaboration between Nigeria and Israel has been productive, particularly in the area of helping Nigeria to commercialize a lot of the research and development that comes out of Nigerian universities, in partnership with the Inov8 programme. “I am particularly excited about the direction and about the vigour with which Israel has embraced partnership with Nigeria, particularly with respect to the President’s mandate for a million jobs in the digital economy.
“It is an extremely important mandate, but we are not going to be able to get there without the support and the knowledge that comes from collaborative partners like Israel,” Aboyeji said.
Aboyeji urged young Nigerians to tap into the I-Fair programme with all the enthusiasm that it required because the support from Inov8 and the State of Israel cannot be wasted. “It is an unbelievable opportunity for you to take your innovation and skill and of course, we are on the other side of the fence, waiting for those innovations that make it through so that we can provide them with the necessary events to capture all that will be required to actually make this large and successful venture,” Aboyeji said.
Some Federal Government agencies have in recent times expressed interest to collaborate with the programme to expand its frontiers in the country. The Director General of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dr. DanAzumi Mohammed Ibrahim, recently said the federal government will support the inventors to patent their intellectual property. He noted that Nigeria spends so much depending on foreign technologies, stressing the need to change that by building the capacity and skills of Nigerians to boost indigenous technology through the i-FAIR programme.
“NOTAP is here to assist young Nigerians to patent their inventions free of charge,” he said, stressing that private investors can have confidence in the inventions if the intellectual property is adequately protected.
(leadership.ng)
