Firms Partner to Enhance Innovative Growth in Nigeria’s WASH Sector

Emma Okonji

Nigeria’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector is about to witness a big bang with the launch of the 2023 WASH Innovation Fair and Incubation Programme.

The programme, which is organised through the partnership of the Financial Centre for Sustainability, Lagos (FC4S LAGOS) and the Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre (NCIC), is sponsored by IHS, one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared communication infrastructure in the world.

The second edition of the event is coming on the heels of the awards received at the SERAs Awards in December 2022. At the event, IHS (Nigeria) Limited won multiple awards for its contributions to sustainability. In particular, it emerged along with FMDQ Group among the top six companies in Africa for Best Company in Water and Sanitation. This year’s WASH Innovation Fair event is the second in the series, with the first WASH Innovation Fair held on November 22, 2021, and is themed Innovating for Sustainable Growth in WASH Sector.

As in the first edition, the focus is on identifying SMEs with innovative ideas in the WASH Sector. However, IHS (Nigeria) Limited and its partners will be supporting the top five SMEs with technical, commercial and business advice to enable them to take their innovative ideas from initiation to market entry. At the end of the Incubation Programme, the five winners will receive a cash prize of N3.5 million each. The process involves a call for entry for a Hackathon that will culminate in selecting the top five winners with the smartest and most practical ideas fit for implementation.

The event aims to contribute to the drive by the Federal Government of Nigeria to end open defecation by 2025 and to make clean water and sanitation readily available to all Nigerians in line with Goal 6 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Other attractions during the 2023 event, which commenced March 3, 2023, includes a roundtable session, which will hold on April 27, 2023 and a four months incubation programme to assist the winners in implementing their winning ideas.

Executive Secretary, FC4S Lagos Mr. Emmanuel Etaderhi, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with NCIC and IHS (Nigeria) Limited once again to support the fight against open defecation and improve access to clean water and sanitation facilities.”