The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) will on Monday kick-start the FutureMakers by NASENI Virtual Hackathon and Pitch sessions for 60 participants drawn from all six geopolitical zones of the country.

The programme organised by NASENI Innovation Hub, will hold the virtual hackathon from Monday 17 – Friday 21 August 2026 while the pitch sessions will take place from Monday 24 – Wednesday 26 August, 2026. The pitch sessions will be streamed live on YouTube and Facebook.

A press statement issued by NASENI Deputy Director Information, Chima Akwaja, Sunday, said  the virtual hackathon, a five-day virtual build sprint, will see 60 shortlisted innovators selected from thousands of entries received in the competition, develop working solutions against their zone’s challenge statement, supported by technical facilitators and mentors. Innovators that advance from the hackathon progress to the pitch sessions.

He said the pitch sessions will see advancing innovators present their solutions to a panel of judges and industry leaders; and will be streamed live on YouTube and Facebook. Winners from each zone will win ₦ 1.5 million, ₦1 million and ₦500,000 each respectively.

Also, the top six winners from each zone will pitch at the NASENI Invention Fest, and stand a chance to win N5 million, a study tour abroad, and scholarships to two leading universities in Nigeria fully funded.

He quoted the Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, as saying:  “FutureMakers Week is the culminating moment of the programme cycle, where months of outreach and selection turn into built solutions and backed ventures. Sixty innovators, six zones, six challenges: the programme is deliberately national in reach and local in problem definition.”