HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN SMALL OR MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISE IN NIGERIA THROUGH THE NBTI

Are you a small or medium scale business owner in Nigeria wishing to grow or standardize you products? Do you have talents in technology that yearns for proper nurturing and commercialization? Do you own a technology-driven small or medium scale enterprise in Nigeria and need help to develop it to a commercial standard?

These are the reasons and more the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, established the National Board for Technology Incubation NBTI. The parastatal was mandated to facilitate the establishment and coordinate the activities of Technology Incubation Centres (TIC) and Science and Technology Parks which are designed to nurture new technology-based start-up businesses nationwide.

In this post, I shall explain in details how to develop your technology-driven small or medium scale enterprise in Nigeria through the NBTI. Millions of educated Nigerians like you may have ideas about some technological innovations (whether big or small) that could metamorphose into huge businesses but the problem still remains how you can go about developing this technology-driven idea.

Through the creation of the Technology Incubation Programme (TIP) with Technology Incubation Centres (TICs) in many States as reach-out offices, the Nigerian Government is more repositioned than ever to help you incubate your technologies as well as products or brands.

You may ask me what Technology Incubation Centre is. Where can you find TICs? How can you enroll to develop your business brand or technologies to standard? What more benefits can you get from the NBTI as an entrepreneur? All these shall be explained as you read on.

National Board for Technology Incubation

Table of Contents

WHAT NBTI DOES TO DEVELOP YOUR SMALL OR MEDIUM SCALE TECHNOLOGIES, PRODUCTS AND BRANDS

The NBTI through its TICs helps you develop your technology-driven SMEs through but not limited to;

v Providing a platform for speedy commercialization of technologies by the linking of talents, technology, capital and know-how.

v Creation of employment and wealth by provision, nurture and development of value-added technology based enterprises.

v Enhancing global competitiveness through the standardization of your technologies and products obtained from technology incubation.

In order to bring this technology and products development and commercialization services closer to the people, the National Board for Technology Incubation NBTI established TICs all over Nigeria. Technology Incubation Centres TICs are present in 27 out of the 36 States of Nigeria and they are still expanding. Entrepreneurs who wish to develop their technology-driven small or medium scale enterprises can start by walking into any of the TICs nearby. Below are the addresses of the TICs currently operational in Nigeria.

S/N	CENTRE	TECHNOLOGY INCUBATION CENTRE (TIC) AND ADDRESS(ES)
1	Agege, Lagos	4 Balogun Street Agege, P.O.Box 13042 Ikeja, Lagos
2	Kano	Kano Farm Centre, P.O.Box 11787, Kano, Kano State
3	Aba	Industrial Road, P.O.Box 20440 Aba, Abia State
4	Calabar	Off Harbour Road, P.O.Box 340, Calabar, Cross River State
5	Nnewi	Along Onitsha/Okigwe Express way, P.O.Box 5081 Nnewi, Anambra State
6	Minna	Off David Mark Road, P.O.Box 2611 Minna, Niger State
7	Warri	Water Board Rd Off Warri/Sapele Rd GRA, P.M.B 1107 Warri, Delta State
8	Gusau	Gain Board Store, P.O.Box 0174 Gasau, Zamfara State
9	Bauchi	Area Engineer’s Office, Bayin Garri, Bauchi, Bauchi State
10	Birnin-Kebbi	Bulasa-Jega Road, P.O.Box 740 Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State
11	Sokoto	Garba Mohammed Rd, Runjin Sambo Industry Layout, Sokoto, Sokoto State
12	Maiduguri	Off Airport Rd, Behind Pompomari Soda Ash Plant Maiduguri, Borno State
13	Benin	188 Sapele Road, Benin City, Edo State
14	Uyo	Nung Okun Ibesikpo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State
15	Akure	Behind Onyearugbulem Market, Lagos Rd, Akure, Ondo State
16	Ibadan	Ibadan Trade Fair Complex, Sango University of Ibadan Rd, P.O.Box 41939 Eleyel Ibadan, Oyo State, Temidire Ext, km 25 Ogbomosho Iresa Apa Rd, Adj. Ayo Adeseun House, Onipany Ogbomosho, Oyo State.
17	Owerri	Naze Industrial Cluster, Fed. Polytechnic Nekede Rd, Owerri, Imo State
18	Abeokuta	Km 9 Abeokuta/Lagos Express Rd, Beside Total Filling Station, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Odogbolu Extension, Okunowo Rd, Off Sagamu Ijebu-Ode Expressway, Odogbolu, Ogun State. Owode Extension, Owode Market Rd. Off Sango Idiroko Rd, Alapara, Owode Yewa, Ogun State
19	Jos	Former NALDA Office Angwa Dabba, Bukuru Expressway, Bukuru Plateau State
20	Yenegoa	TIC Complex, by Imgbi Swali Round About, Yenegoa, Bayelsa State
21	Yola	36 Kashim Ibrahim Way, Yola, Adamawa State
22	Enugu	IMT Industrial Development Centre, Enugu, Enugu State
23	Jalingo	Former Taraba State Inland Revenue Service Office, 49 Barde Way, Jalingo, Taraba State
24	Kaduna	Kachia Rd by Command Junction, GSS Roundabout, inside Min. of Agric & Nat. Resr.
25	Ilorin	Jebba Rd. P.M.B 1602 Ikorin, Kwara State Offa Extension, km 3 Offa-Ira Rd. P.M.B. 440 Offa, Kwara State.
26	Ado-Ekiti	Km 2 Old Technical College, Ikere Rd, Ajilosun, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State
27	Ile-Ife	Ondo Rd, beside Trailer Park, Ita-Osa, Ile-Ife, Osun State.

Visiting any of the TIC offices is the first step towards developing your technology-driven small or medium scale enterprises. On reception, you shall be guided on how to formerly tender an application to enable you become a TIC entrepreneur. Your admission officially commences after a pre-incubation period of 6 months.

Within this pre-incubation period of 6 months, some preliminary activities are provided for you as a prospective entrepreneur prior to admission into the technology incubation Programme (TIP). These activities are geared towards enhancing the success of your enterprise’s technology or product development Programme. They include but not limited to;

v Capacity building support in data collection, preparation of feasibility studies of your business and bankable proposals or business plans.

v Engaging in some trial productions – proto-types and pilot schemes to ascertain the commercial viability of your product or process technology.

At the completion of your pre-incubation, the full process of helping you develop your technology-driven small or medium scale enterprise swings into action. This is called the Real Incubation Stage. This stage lasts a period of 1 to 3 years and many benefits are obtained during this period.

You can choose to be a resident entrepreneur whereby you shall be provided with a production unit or space within the premises of the TICs. You may also be a non-resident entrepreneur implying that your production room will be located anywhere outside the TIC complex. As a resident entrepreneur, your business incubation sticks to the normal 1 to 3 year period whereas it could take up to 5 years for a non-resident entrepreneur to graduate from the programme.

After graduation from incubation (post-incubation), the TICs shall still offer some technical support to ensure the survival of your standardized technologies or products. These supports may include but not limited to;

v Monitoring services

v Networking or linkage support

v Financial capacity and knowledge provision support.

BASIC QUESTIONS THAT INDICATES ELIGIBILITY OF YOUR ENTERPRISE

v Does your business have a technology-based product or service with some added value?

v Do you have adequate initial capital enough to kick-start your business? Although grants and loans are part of the incentives one enjoys as an entrepreneur.

v Does your business have potentials to create jobs or at least grow into a self-sustainable enterprise?

v Is the nature of your business environment-friendly?

I know you may still have questions on how to develop your technology-driven small or medium scale enterprises in Nigeria. I shall be willing to share every information as demanded by your questions. Simply ask your questions or your comments in the comment form below and I shall get back to you as soon as possible.