Experts Advocate Technopreneurship as Pathway to Nigeria's Trillion-Dollar Economy at FUTA Lecture

Experts have identified technology-driven entrepreneurship as a critical pathway to building a trillion-dollar economy in Nigeria, urging universities, government and industry stakeholders to strengthen innovation, entrepreneurship education and research commercialisation.

The call was made during the Entrepreneurship Eminent Personality Lecture organised by the Department of Entrepreneurship, School of Logistics and Innovation Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), to commemorate the 2026 World Creativity and Innovation Day and World Entrepreneurship Day.

Delivering the keynote lecture titled "Building a Trillion-Dollar Nigerian Economy: Leveraging Technopreneurial Education," Oxford University-trained programme strategist and Pan-African development adviser, Temitope Toogun, said Nigeria must combine technology with entrepreneurship to unlock sustainable economic growth.

Toogun, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Cognity Advisory, Abuja, described technopreneurship as the integration of technology and entrepreneurship to develop businesses built around technological innovation rather than simply adopting technology in existing enterprises.

He explained that technopreneurs leverage technical expertise and business strategy to create disruptive solutions in areas such as software development, e-commerce, financial technology, health technology and artificial intelligence.

According to him, Nigeria's estimated 40 million registered small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with only about 5,000 employing up to five workers, cannot independently drive the country's economic transformation without embracing technology.

He noted that only about 20 countries currently have economies valued above one trillion dollars, led by the United States and China, while Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2025 is estimated at between 375 billion and 500 billion dollars.

Represented at the event by Professor Ayodele Ajayi, Toogun said Nigeria would need to sustain annual economic growth of between 10 and 12 per cent to achieve a one trillion-dollar economy, with projections of reaching four trillion dollars by 2035 and 11.7 trillion dollars by 2050 under existing national development frameworks.

While acknowledging improvements in Nigeria's GDP growth rate, foreign reserves and debt profile, he identified persistent challenges including high food inflation, widespread poverty, low literacy levels among children and the limited contribution of SMEs to national economic output.

He stressed that the Fourth Industrial Revolution presents an opportunity for Nigeria to accelerate development by investing in technology-driven enterprises capable of creating jobs and expanding economic opportunities.

Head of the Department of Entrepreneurship, Dr. David Ilori, said Nigeria's universities must move beyond preparing graduates for limited employment opportunities and instead focus on producing innovators, entrepreneurs and problem-solvers.

He described technopreneurial education as essential to achieving Nigeria's economic ambitions, adding that tertiary institutions should serve as centres for innovation by commercialising research findings, nurturing business ideas and empowering students to become wealth creators.

Ilori also advocated the establishment of innovation hubs and business incubation centres while calling for stronger collaboration among academia, industry, government and development partners to transform research outputs into scalable businesses.

Vice-Chancellor of FUTA, Professor Adenike Oladiji, said the university remains committed to promoting innovation, entrepreneurship and practical education capable of addressing national development challenges.

She noted that universities now have responsibilities beyond knowledge transfer, emphasizing the need to produce graduates equipped with creativity, technical competence and entrepreneurial skills to create employment and drive economic growth.

Professor Oladiji described the vision of a one trillion-dollar economy as achievable, adding that FUTA has aligned its academic programmes with emerging technological trends through entrepreneurship development, industry partnerships, innovation and hands-on training aimed at producing job creators.

Dean of the School of Logistics and Innovation Technology, Professor Olayemi Simon-Oke, said the lecture provided an opportunity for stakeholders to develop practical strategies for advancing industrialisation, digital innovation and economic sustainability.

He stressed the importance of strengthening entrepreneurship education and called for closer collaboration among universities, government and industry to build a stronger support system for innovation and enterprise development.

Simon-Oke also commended the Department of Entrepreneurship for sustaining the annual lecture series and acknowledged the university management for creating an environment that supports entrepreneurship education.

Chairman of the organising committee, Professor Abolaji Dada, expressed appreciation to participants, award recipients and university management for supporting the programme.

He said the lecture and Distinguished Awards of Excellence ceremony highlighted the importance of technopreneurial education in achieving Nigeria's economic aspirations while reaffirming FUTA's commitment to driving innovation, entrepreneurship and enterprise development.