The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has signed an agreement worth $21.7 million with 11 firms for the take-off of the Delta-2 Projects.
The partnership is the outcome of the bilateral collaboration between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Czech Republic.
This was contained in a press release today by the NASENI Director of Information, Segun Ayeoyenikan.
The Nigerian beneficiary companies are expected to come up with various products and services to be injected into the Nigeria economy.
The Delta-2 Programme is being implemented by the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer/Information Exchange (PICTT) and NASENI as implementing agency for Nigeria, in partnership with the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR).
In his welcome address at the agency’s headquarters, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NASENI, Mr Khalil Halilu, said the Delta 2 Programme, launched in 2022, was designed with the aim of funding and enabling research, development and innovation projects in agriculture, mining and general manufacturing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
It was further stated in the release that, with $21.7 million set aside to finance the selected projects, TA CR will contribute $11.7 million, while NASENI will contribute $10 million as counterpart fund.
The bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and the Czech Republic began on 15th of May, 2014, it was added.
Mr. Halilu emphasised that the Delta-2 Programme was yet another manifestation of NASENI’s commitment to fulfilling its mandate of transforming Nigeria’s technology and innovation landscape.
This, he said, is through sustained focus on its 3Cs principles namely, Collaboration, Creation and Commercialisation.
“Ultimately, our goal is not just to produce prototypes and models, but to ensure that the outcomes of the partnership are taken to market;
“That they are available commercially for consumers and end-users to benefit from, knowing that the real value of technology lies in market usefulness and application, our vision in the new NASENI that we are building is to create values and to be relevant in the market,” Halilu stated.
The EVC/CEO assured that, for every single kobo that NASENI will invest into this phase of the Delta-2 programme to develop new projects and products, the agency will realize almost Six Naira in commercial returns, in addition to job creation opportunities, capacity building and technology transfer.
“That is what NASENI stands for: leveraging technology and talent to deliver returns that benefit Nigeria on multiple levels,” Halilu said.
He congratulated the selected beneficiaries of the projects and urged them not to take the massive opportunity for granted as the funds would be deployed with a sense of service and responsibility.
Chairman, Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) on Technology Transfer/Information Exchange on Delta 2 Projects, Dr. Dahiru Mohammed, said the program was launched on 18 May, 2022 with 285 proposals received from various companies registered in Nigeria.
He said the evaluation of the proposals was carried out diligently by members of the Assessment Committee selected from the Nigerian Academy of Science, Nigerian Academy of Engineering (as research experts) and the Nigeria-Czech Republic Trade and Investment Council (NCTIC).
He said the process was well coordinated by experts in both fields of research and business and ably assisted by the PIC Secretariat.
“It is noteworthy that the distribution of the beneficiaries of the awards spans across the country, having all zones represented.
“The funds are ready and we eagerly look forward to start implementation in January 2024. The funding of the projects is scheduled to last between 12 to 36 months,” Dahiru disclosed.
He further said the idea behind the Delta-2 Projects was to yield patents, pilot plants, proven technologies, software, certified methodologies, processes and specialised maps and databases, among others.
He said the it is expected that the outcomes of the various projects will have a direct and immediate positive impact on the average Nigerian farmers, miners and MSME operators.
The resulting technologies from these collaborations will be transferred and domesticated in Nigeria through NASENI and other research institutions and private companies.
Goodwill messages came from the Minister of Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji; Chairman, Senate Committee on NASENI, Chief Ezenwa Francis Onyewuchi; Chairman, Senate Committee on Science and Technology, Alhaji Aminu Iya Abbas and the Chairman, House Committee on NASENI, Honourable Taofiq A. Abimbola, who all reassured the agency of better enabling laws and collaborating partnership for better productivity.
In a related development, NASENI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PT Saputra Global Harvest for the production license for the establishment of coal-based fertilizers in Nigeria, covering three key areas.
Halilu said: “Food Security is one of the priority areas on the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The president is determined to build a Nigeria that is not only able to feed itself in an affordable manner, but also one that is able to produce surplus food for export.
Others areas are supply of machinery and equipment that will enable the production of coal-based fertilizer for use in Nigeria;
The capacity development component, which is the training of Nigerian personnel on the use and maintenance of these equipment;
And the licensing that gives Nigeria the permission to produce the coal-based fertilizer according to the prevailing standards of quality already established by Saputra.
The agreement is building on the initial MoU signed between NASENI and Saputra in September 2022.
It was part of steps to strengthen the bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Indonesia, while also supporting the development of Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
