The commission urges investors and telecom operators to help turn accessibility-focused prototypes into commercially viable products for millions of excluded Nigerians

The Nigerian Communications Commission has called for greater investment in homegrown tech as a pathway to reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported software and widening digital access for millions of people, particularly persons with disabilities.

Also read: NCC Urges Rapid Fibre Rollout to Boost $1trn Economy Growth

The commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Dr Aminu Maida, made the call on Thursday, August 27, 2026, at the closing ceremony of the fourth NCC Hackathon Live Show in Abuja, where 20 young innovators presented technology solutions designed to address barriers facing persons with disabilities and other digitally excluded Nigerians.

Represented by the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Rimini Makama, Maida said Nigeria needed to move beyond consuming foreign technology and develop products shaped around the country’s own social and economic realities.

“Through this hackathon, we are transforming Nigeria from a passive importer of foreign software into a creator of locally engineered assistive technology that serves the ability of all its citizens,” he said.

The two-day competition, themed “Technology Without Barriers”, focused on practical solutions spanning artificial intelligence-powered speech-to-text tools, voice-enabled public platforms, accessible USSD services and inclusive mobile applications.

Five innovators advanced to the final stage. (News Agency of Nigeria)

Maida said such innovations could become important building blocks for Nigeria’s digital self-reliance if they received the investment and partnerships required to move beyond prototypes.

“By investing in a homegrown, universally accessible codebase, we guarantee Nigeria’s digital economy remains operational, secure, affordable, and responsive to Nigeria’s realities, immune to external shocks,” he said.

The NCC boss therefore appealed to venture capitalists, telecommunications companies and state governments to view the participating innovators as potential businesses rather than simply competition entrants.

“We ask you not to view these innovators as contestants, but as future founders, future partners, and future vendors,” Maida said.

The appeal comes against the backdrop of persistent digital exclusion among people with disabilities, who can face barriers to education, employment, financial services, healthcare and public services as more aspects of everyday life move online.

Maida cited World Bank estimates that about 25 million Nigerians live with at least one form of disability, while approximately 3.6 million experience significant difficulties in functioning.

The figures originate from the World Report on Disability and have also been cited by the World Bank in its work on disability inclusion in Nigeria. (World Bank Blogs)

The commission’s focus was therefore not simply on creating sophisticated technology, but on developing affordable and accessible tools that can be used by people who have historically been left outside the digital economy.

The hackathon itself was designed around that principle, with the NCC’s call for applications identifying areas including low-bandwidth AI speech-to-text systems, voice-enabled complaints platforms, AI-powered sign-language recognition, image-to-voice navigation, inclusive employment platforms and accessible USSD solutions. (NCC)

Among the strongest examples was Sora, which emerged as the overall winner and received N3m.

Sora developed an inclusive job-matching and adaptive-skills platform designed for verified persons with disabilities.

The platform aims to connect qualified candidates with government agencies and employers offering inclusive opportunities while providing learning resources adapted to different disabilities. (News Agency of Nigeria)

Clear Signal placed second and received N2m, while Ikor finished third with N1m.

Clear Signal developed a notification system designed to help blind, visually impaired and deaf electricity consumers receive information about their power supply.

Ikor developed an AI-powered voice-dictation and writing solution aimed at reducing difficulties associated with physical typing, expensive assistive hardware and high internet requirements. (National Periscope)

The results gave the competition a practical dimension beyond the prize money, particularly as the NCC and participating private-sector organisations indicated an interest in helping the innovators develop their products.

Representing MTN Nigeria, Senior Manager, Strategy and Innovation, Chinyelu Chikwendu, pledged the telecommunications company’s support for startups whose technologies align with its operations.

“We are happy to support your growth. We are happy to support these beautiful ideas that you are all working on, and we are here to help you with the various infrastructures that we have,” Chikwendu said.

She said startups could potentially leverage MTN’s infrastructure and digital platforms, including its cloud services, data centre and API marketplace.

Chikwendu also invited the 20 participating innovators to apply for MTN’s next Cloud Accelerator Programme, which provides mentorship, funding and infrastructure support.

The Central Bank of Nigeria also indicated that some of the innovations could have applications beyond accessibility.

Amadi Kenneth of the CBN’s Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion Department said the apex bank was interested in technologies capable of bringing excluded Nigerians into the formal financial system.

“We want to see that the excluded Nigerians are brought into the financial system,” Kenneth said, identifying women, young people, persons with disabilities and residents of remote communities as priority groups.

He said the CBN could collaborate with the NCC and potentially invite some of the innovators to its Digital Channel Working Group to examine how their technologies could contribute to financial inclusion.

The possibility of such collaboration is significant because accessibility and financial inclusion increasingly overlap. A person excluded from a digital platform may also struggle to access banking, payments, employment opportunities or government services that are increasingly delivered through digital channels.

NCC Director of Digital Economy Helen Obi also urged financial institutions to consider dedicated funding for young technology innovators.

“Youths need to be encouraged. Let’s begin to have a huge fund projected for this sector of the economy,” Obi said.

The NCC said the partnerships emerging from the hackathon would be important in determining whether the ideas developed by participants could reach users beyond the competition.

That challenge is particularly important for Nigerian startups, where developing a promising prototype is often only the beginning. Commercialisation requires capital, infrastructure, technical expertise, regulatory support and access to customers.

For accessibility-focused products, there is an additional challenge: the technology must remain affordable enough for the people it is designed to serve.

The fourth NCC Hackathon Live Show therefore placed a broader question before government and industry: whether Nigeria can turn its growing pool of young technical talent into sustainable businesses that solve problems specific to the country.

The commission’s push for homegrown tech suggests that the answer will depend not only on the creativity of young developers but also on whether investors, telecommunications operators, banks and government agencies are prepared to support them beyond the competition stage.

For the innovators who took part, the N6m prize pool provides an initial boost.

The more consequential opportunity, however, lies in turning those ideas into reliable products capable of reaching the millions of Nigerians who remain underserved by existing digital systems.

That would make the hackathon’s legacy more than a technology competition.

Also read: NCC Blames Urban Telecom Congestion on Heavy Usage

It could become a practical step towards a digital economy in which innovation is developed locally, scaled commercially and designed from the outset to include people who have too often been left behind.