Nigeria’s Tech Talent Gap Shifts From Skills To Capital, Opportunity

By Ayo Susan

inDrive has called for stronger collaboration among employers, investors, policymakers and other stakeholders to create an ecosystem capable of converting Nigeria’s growing technology talent into scalable businesses. The call came at GITEX Nigeria 2026 in Lagos, as industry stakeholders examined the country’s tech talent pipeline and barriers to entrepreneurship.

DEVELOPMENT:

Speaking at a panel titled ‘Building and Reshaping the Tech Talent Story’ at the September 2 GITEX Nigeria event, Country Manager, inDrive Nigeria, Timothy Oladimeji, said that Nigeria has significant talent but needs more opportunities for trained people to apply and develop their capabilities.

He urged investors, policymakers and private-sector organisations to invest more deliberately in talent development and collaboration.

“Every player and stakeholder, especially employers and the private sector, has a responsibility to contribute to the system. If you are here for the long term, you have to think about how you invest in the system that will eventually provide the talent you need in the future,” he said.

Oladimeji said companies could also open internal learning resources and share knowledge from previous campaigns and product deployments to give emerging talent practical industry experience.

DATA:

Nigeria recorded the highest number of applications from any country in the 2026 Aurora Tech Award cycle, inDrive’s global initiative supporting women technology entrepreneurs.

Globally, the inDrive app has recorded more than 400 million downloads and operates in 1,065 cities across 48 countries.

SIGNIFICANCE:

The discussion points to a distinction between having technology skills and having the ecosystem required to commercialise those skills.

Oladimeji said women technology entrepreneurs face barriers extending beyond technical capability, particularly access to capital and opportunities for business growth.

“Nigeria’s technology story is often discussed as a skills challenge, but for many talented entrepreneurs, particularly women founders, the challenge goes beyond skills to access to capital and opportunities to grow,” he also said.

He added that the Aurora Tech Award applications demonstrate “the depth of innovation and entrepreneurial potential in the country”, while highlighting the need to help founders build scalable businesses.

NEXT MOVE:

Attention should focus on private-sector talent programmes, venture funding, corporate knowledge-sharing initiatives and policies that improve access to capital for technology entrepreneurs.

The ability of Nigerian founders to move from technical capability and early-stage innovation to commercially sustainable businesses will be an important measure of ecosystem development.

OUR LENS:

Nigeria’s technology challenge is increasingly becoming an ecosystem question. Talent can exist without finding the capital, mentorship, market access and institutional support required to convert capability into enterprise value.

inDrive’s intervention therefore places responsibility beyond universities and training programmes. For employers and investors, the emerging opportunity lies in building stronger pathways between talent, capital and commercialisation.

Ayo Susan is a journalist, covering business, society and emerging developments with an emphasis on credible and engaging storytelling.