Abayomi Susan
Demonstrating its commitment to Africa’s tech future, Zenith Bank has awarded N140 million to ten innovators at its recent Tech Fair, underscoring its evolution into a foundational pillar of the sector.
The “Future Forward 5.0” tech fair, convening over 2,000 African tech leaders, culminated in N30 million awards for Trust Loop and Cubbes Technologies. Beyond these top prizes, the event’s structure and scale underscored Zenith’s strategic pivot towards investing in the foundational infrastructure required for the continent’s technology ecosystem to mature.
This year’s edition featured a dual-competition format including a Hackathon for solutions with immediate technical application and a Startup pitch competition for early-stage ventures. Beyond the cash prizes, eight additional finalists received N10 million each, plus entry into a six-week mentorship and incubation programme supported by Zenith and its global partners.
According to the bank, this framework is predicated on the understanding that capital is insufficient on its own; sustainable business growth is dependent on structured mentorship and integration into global networks.
Analysts observe the bank is forging a long-term pipeline for innovation, directly channeling early-stage talent toward enterprise clients, international investors, tech firms, and regulatory stakeholders.
Technologies like Generative AI, agentic AI systems, and cloud-native architectures—all featured at the fair—are becoming fundamental to Africa’s evolving digital landscape.
The keynote segment, featuring senior leaders from M-PESA Africa, a co-creator of Skype, and AWS’s Chief Technologist for Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey, facilitated a critical connection between local innovators and global technology front-runners.
The distinguishing feature of Zenith’s Tech Fair was its provision of knowledge networks alongside capital. The event addressed a key market gap by featuring masterclasses from partners such as Huawei, Check Point, and Microsoft, making expert guidance on cybersecurity, digital scaling, and product development accessible to startups that would otherwise be constrained by cost.
Featuring operators from fintech, logistics, digital identity, and software engineering, panel discussions moderated by CNN’s Zain Asher provided a ground-level view of what it takes to scale successfully across Africa.
Zenith Bank’s leadership positioned the Tech Fair as central to its long-term strategy. CEO Adaora Umeoji stressed the initiative is not a mere publicity event, but a platform to accelerate Africa’s digital transformation by equipping innovators to build scalable, export-ready technology.
Founder and Chairman Jim Ovia reinforced this, challenging the continent to produce its own global tech leaders. He presented the fair as a direct response to the need for greater technological self-reliance and local capacity building.
