Headlines
Kano is becoming one of Nigeria’s biggest startup cities
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
This year, Kano entered the list of top 1,000 startup cities in the world for the first time. In the past four years, the city, known as the commercial capital of northern Nigeria, has seen a spike in startup activities, owing to the success of pioneer tech entrepreneurs and a buzzing tech community.
KANO FOCUS reports that in 2016, a group of four young people collaborated to build one of the first tech incubation hubs in Kano, they had no idea that this singular goal to participate in the tech revolution happening in the country would become the foundation of the state’s tech ecosystem. In eight years, this hub, Startup Kano, has become one of the biggest in the northern region and the entry-point into tech for over 50,000 youth in Kano, helping early-stage entrepreneurs raise over $1 million for their tech-enabled businesses.
A tech ecosystem in Kano is vastly different from ones in other parts of the country, like Lagos or Enugu, and while the growth of the former might have inspired Kano, that didn’t make building any easier.
According to Aisha Tofa, co-founder of Startup Kano, there was no blueprint for them in the beginning as the environments were severely different. There was zero tech awareness in Kano communities, and despite its deep entrepreneurial culture, the concept of investing in technology rather than actual brick-and-mortar businesses was still largely absurd.
“People understood technology only to the extent of using social media platforms like Facebook,” she said. “Anything outside that and they didn’t trust it.”
It took years of radical tech evangelism to draw the interest of young people, and subsequently investors. Now, the state has become one of the top six tech ecosystems in the country, with the most number of startups in northern Nigeria.
According to Tofa, what is responsible for the recent push for the tech entrepreneurs in Kano is witnessing the potential of technology for their counterparts in the north.
“At first, people didn’t even try. They simply believed that their startups wouldn’t get enough funding or traction for the single reason that they were from the north and not Lagos,” she said. “But when they started to see other founders like them in the northern region who worked hard and got rewarded for it, then they woke up.”
In 2022, a mobility startup founded by Kano-born Khalil Halilu won $8,000 for the mobility and smart city category during a GITEX Pitch competition. That same year, another northern startup, Sudo Africa, raised $3.37 million in pre-seed funding. From 2021 to 2024, the number of tech startups in Kano has jumped from five to about sixty.
Funding has always been regarded as the principal obstacle to growth in the Nigerian tech space, more so in emerging ecosystems like Kano. In 2023, we wrote that only about 6% of tech founders from the entire northern region had access to venture capital funding.
Tofa has a differing opinion. She believes that for an ecosystem like Kano, there are still foundational challenges that still need to be gotten right, like education, mentorship, and creating the right market.
“There’s a huge gap between the training and impact we see in the ecosystem at the moment. A lot of us are still using the templates from other places to train Kano youth, and it’s not the right fit,” she said. “Funding is important, but the things we do before getting to where we need funding should also be focused on.”
According to another co-founder of Startup Kano, who’d like to not be mentioned, Kano is different and the ecosystem has to adapt to the cultural context of the city to be successful.
“When we pitch tech startups as something entirely separate from the regular businesses they’re used to, then it’s even more difficult to work with,” they said. “Startups are basically businesses, which is what we know here [in Kano] and how we ought to operate.”
The co-founder, who now bootstraps their own tech-enabled business, shared that funding isn’t as important to them now as finding the market for their product.
“Before thinking about raising money from investors, I’m already thinking about how to sell and make my profits directly from my customers, which is exactly how my own fathers did business,” they said.
A lot of things have changed in Kano in the past few years. Beyond an increased number of startups, there are also more incubation hubs, willing investors in the city, and increased interest.
“While building is still difficult, it is definitely not as difficult as it was four years ago because there are more resources to help you now,” the anonymous co-founder said. “Global organisations, the government, and even private individuals have seen what’s possible in Kano and want to be a part of it.”
Ahmed Idris, founder of Enovate Labs, a non-profit focused on driving innovation, warned that the buzz in the ecosystem shouldn’t be confused with a big change and there’s still work to be done.
“The ecosystem is largely still as small as it was years ago, but we’ve seen some unique cases of people and startups who’ve managed to do great stuff,” he said.
Source: TechCabal.
Headlines
Dangote donates N15billion to Kano varsity, offers Automatic jobs to best graduating students
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
Group President of the Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Aliko Dangote, has announced the donation of a whooping N15billion to the Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Wudil (ADUSTECH), Kano State.
KANO FOCUS reports that. Alhaji Dangote, who is also the Chairman of the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) was reappointed the Chancellor of the University.
In his speech at the 5th convocation ceremony, he said the University must be repositioned to lead the race of producing cutting edge research and highly skilled manpower that meets the requirements of market demands, industries and real problem solvers in the Nigerian society.
He said: “It is in this vein that I wish to use this opportunity to announce the launch of the 5-year Development plan which I envision for this institution.
“Over the next 5 years, we will commit the sum of N15 billion to the following projects: the design and construction of additional student hostels; the design and construction of a world class Engineering Lab; the design and construction of a world class multipurpose computer lab -open to all students of the institution which will also be equipped with 24-hour internet access to support academic research and the installation of a mini-solar plant to support access to power on campus.”
He added that: “We also undertake to design and construct a befitting Senate building that will house the administration of this institution. Finally, we will also reserve post-NYSC employment slots for the best performing graduates in Engineering and other related courses that form part of our areas of interest at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Plant and Dangote Cement Plants.”
Alhaji Dangote said the funding for such an institution places a significant burden on the government, which is why, through the Aliko Dangote Foundation, it was able to offset the University’s electricity bill to ease the strain on their finances.
“Additionally, to support the infrastructural drive of the University, we built two blocks of Male and Female Hostels with 500 bed spaces each.
“We also ensured the availability of electricity in a specialized University like ours for continuous teaching, learning and research, via the connection of the University to a 33KVA line, and provided a 2.5 MVA transformer and six (6) step-down transformers. This, I believe, has gone a long way in solving the energy needs of the University.”
Dangote therefore congratulated the vision of those who dreamt of the institution 25 years ago.
“An institution that began with a student population of 88, today has a population of more than 21,877 students and this combined convocation has a total of about 18,000 graduates. This is indeed a milestone,” he added.
In his address, Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf of Kano State commended Alhaji Dangote for contributing financially and morally towards the development of the University, adding that, “all of us will continue to remember you as a visionary and African illustrious industrialist.”
The University’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Musa Tukur Yakasa said 18,000 students were being celebrated during the convocation ceremony, having graduated from the university in the last ten years to date.
Business mogul Chief Arthur Eze, founder of Max Air and billionaire Alhaji Dahiru Barau Mangal, Senior Advocate Ahmad Adeniyi Raji, and oil magnate and founder of Amasco Oil Al-Mustapha Ado bagged honorary doctorate degrees.
The VC said the University has recorded significant strides in its academic journey to greater heights, including program accreditation and a mathematical digital model designed by a university product, Mahmoud Mubarak, for measuring deforestation density.
Mu
Bayero University, Kano (BUK) has recorded a landmark academic achievement following the release of the results from the 2024 accreditation exercise conducted by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
In what has been described as a resounding endorsement of the University’s academic standards and quality assurance framework, all 53 academic programmes presented for evaluation were granted full accreditation or accredited status.
The accreditation, conducted between October and November 2024, covered undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across key faculties including Administration, Agriculture, Allied Health Sciences, Arts, Computing, Education, Engineering, Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Social Sciences.
According to a statement signed by the University Registrar, Haruna Aliyu, the development affirms BUK’s unwavering commitment to academic excellence, curriculum innovation, and sustained infrastructural and faculty development.
“This milestone is a testimony to the quality of education and institutional governance at BUK. It validates our position as one of Nigeria’s premier universities,” the statement said.
Key Highlights:
• Administration Faculty recorded full accreditation across 13 programmes including the Master of Accounting and Financial Management, MBA, and Islamic Banking & Finance.
• Agriculture, Medicine, Pharmacy, and all Engineering programmes received full accreditation, reinforcing the University’s strength in science-based disciplines.
• The Education Faculty had a sweeping success with 14 programmes earning full accreditation.
• Courses in Arts, Social Sciences, Computing, and Science were all rated “Full” by the NUC.
This success is more than academic—it means that all current and prospective students of these programmes can be assured that their education meets the highest national standards. It also ensures the continued recognition of their certificates for employment, postgraduate studies, and participation in national youth service.
Strengthening Nigeria’s Higher Education Landscape
The Registrar expressed appreciation to the National Universities Commission for its rigorous evaluation process and acknowledged the dedication of BUK’s Deans, Heads of Departments, academic staff, and support personnel who worked tirelessly to meet and surpass the benchmarks.
“This achievement is not an end but a motivation to continue pushing the boundaries of knowledge, research, and community engagement. We remain committed to nurturing leaders and innovators who will contribute meaningfully to Nigeria and the world,” he added.
As BUK celebrates this landmark, the University is inviting stakeholders, prospective students, parents, and the global academic community to partner in its journey of growth and excellence.
Headlines
Governor Yusuf Pays Over 3 Billion for Secondary School Students to Sit for NECO, NABTEB, NBAIS
Mukhtar Yahya Usman
The Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, has expended over 3 billion naira for 141,175 (one hundred and forty-one thousand, one hundred and seventy-five) Kano students who passed the 2024 qualifying examinations to sit for this year’s NECO, NABTEB, and NBAIS (2025).
In a statement issued by the Governor’s Special Adviser on Information, Ibrahim Adam, it was noted that the Commissioner for Education, Ali Haruna Makoda, announced to newsmen in Kano that the State Ministry of Education had released the results of the qualifying examinations for secondary school students in Kano.
These students are studying under the Kano State Teachers Service Board and the Science and Technical Schools Board, where 75 percent of them qualified to write the senior school certificate examinations of NABTEB, NECO, and NBAIS (for Arabic students).
Ali Haruna Makoda stated that the students eligible for payment by the Kano State Government under Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf are those who scored five credits and above.
The Commissioner maintained that all secondary school principals and directors should notify their students of their results so that the state government can effect the payment.
The 2025 qualifying exams for NECO, and NABTEB will enable the students to sit for their 2025 examinations required for admission into tertiary education.
Ibrahim Adam, the Special Adviser to Governor Yusuf on Information, said that since the inception of the administration in May 2023, it has settled registration fees for Kano indigent students for NECO, NABTEB, and NBAIS.
The Special Adviser pointed out that apart from settling the fees, Governor Yusuf’s administration has also paid huge outstanding debts for NECO, and NABTEB left behind by former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s administration.
He also said it is part of Governor Yusuf’s declaration of a state of emergency on education and an effort to mitigate the high number of out-of-school children that have bedeviled the state.
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Governor Yusuf Pays Over 3 Billion for Secondary School Students to Sit for NECO, NABTEB, NBAIS
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