At IHS Nigeria, we are committed to investing in long-term, impactful projects and initiatives we believe are instrumental in contributing to Nigeria’s progress. We focus on enhancing educational opportunities and providing resources to support business growth. Understanding that the future of Nigeria’s economy depends on the leaders and innovators of tomorrow, we empower young people for a better tomorrow.
We are also aware of the challenges to educational and economic equality, including gender and regional disparities. As a result, we are dedicated to creating inclusive programs that bridge access gaps.
A significant part of our efforts center on advancing digital inclusion and empowerment programs. Through mobile connectivity, we believe we have the potential to bring significant economic and social value to the communities where we operate. We aim to enable mobile access in a way that helps increase the number of people benefiting from the opportunities connectivity brings.
Providing access to education for all children in Nigeria remains a significant challenge. At present, only 61% of 6–11-year-olds attend primary schools full time, and only 36.5% of children aged 2-5 receive an early education.
These figures worsen in the North of the country which maintains a net attendance rate of 53%.Gender remains a significant issue in education equality, with less than half of girls in education in various North-East and North-West regions of the country.*
At IHS Nigeria, we recognize that education is the cornerstone of economic prosperity and progress. Over 2023 and 2024, we have actively invested in sustainability projects that aim to expand access to education. We remain committed to contributing to the development of the Nigerian education sector in alignment with SDG 4 – Quality Education.
In 2023, we continued our partnership with UNICEF, participating in the year-end GEN-U Steering Committee Meeting focused on school connectivity across Nigeria and the broader Gen-U initiative. This meeting reviewed our collective 2023 impact and set targets for 2024. Attendees included key stakeholders such as Airtel Africa, Microsoft, ATC Nigeria, and government representatives. Demonstrating our ongoing commitment and alignment with UNICEF, we returned to 2024’s meeting.
Furthering our mission to enhance literacy, we partnered with BookBuzz for the Ake Book Festival. The festival featured a book chat session hosted by our book club, who spoke with the Nigeria author Dipo Faloyin, who discussed his work, Africa Is Not a Country which challenges stereotypes and sheds light on the diverse stories and identities across the continent. Additionally, we supported grassroots educational initiatives, such as the inter-house sports competition at Raufu Williams Primary School in Lagos, by providing educational materials like school bags and notebooks. We also backed a community-driven School Spelling Bee Competition (SSBC) led by Temitope Oluwagbemi, Manager of Regional Quality Audit, at IHS Nigeria. The competition awarded scholarships to 10 student winners, showcasing our commitment to fostering literacy among young people.
The empowerment of women and girls plays a vital role in driving Nigeria’s economic development, fostering a cycle of inclusive growth and sustainable prosperity for the nation. We showed our commitment to pushing forward this agenda through several initiatives.
DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality
We marked the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (IDWGS) 2023: “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality” by equipping 79 young girls from three public secondary schools with ICT knowledge and skills, preparing them for careers in technology. Following IHS Nigeria’s engagement, these schools have proceeded to set up their own STEM clubs. One of the schools, Eva Adelaja Girls Junior Secondary School, has won multiple prestigious competitions such as the IBILE Robotics Competition 2023, the Tech Fam Robotics Competition 2023, and the Limitless Space Institute Microgravity Experiment 2024. As a testament to its leadership in STEM education, the school also claimed the First Runner-Up position in the World Robotics Olympiad (National) 2024 and was honoured as the Best School in Nigeria 2024. These accolades reflect the students’ dedication and unwavering commitment to STEM that IHS Nigeria is proud to have enabled.
Women and Girls in Science Leadership: A New Era for Sustainability
In 2024 IHS Nigeria organized an event to mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science at Akoka Junior High School, Yaba, Lagos, and Government Girls Secondary School Kofar Kudu, Kano State, impacting 80 female students. The event aimed to inspire young girls in STEM with the theme “Women and Girls in Science Leadership: A New Era for Sustainability and subtheme “Think Science, Think Peace”.
Women in IHS Network Mentorship Program
To increase engagement with STEM nation-wide, our sustainability team, in collaboration with Women in IHS Network (WIIN), a network of women focused on driving female empowerment across the business, hosted a mentoring program to provide new opportunities for our female employees and have hosted various mentoring sessions across public secondary schools in Lagos State on STEM education. The mentoring sessions were held across multiple schools and helped the mentees develop the tools and resources they need to succeed in STEM fields.
Women in Tech and Green Jobs Initiative (WITGJ)
In 2023, we launched the Women in Tech and Green Jobs Initiative (WITGJ) in partnership with Afro-Tech Girls and Poder Green Consulting. Our WITGJ initiative aims to create a pipeline of women in the technology and engineering sectors by providing capacity development, certifications, and internship opportunities for employment eligibility in the technology and engineering fields. Women in Tech featured training in technology, engineering, data analytics, job readiness skills and project management, and included support with achieving internationally recognized certifications. The first cohort of 24 women completed the training with a graduation ceremony attended by representatives from General Electric, Google and the Women in IHS Network among others. Graduates were then eligible for internships through the IHS Nigeria Technical Skills Acquisition Program (TSAP) and IHS Skills Acquisition Program (ISAP). Women in Green Jobs, delivered in partnership with Poder Consulting, provided training in renewable energy, green entrepreneurship, data analytics and leadership.We were thrilled to have 50 women participate in the first cohort and they are now pursuing careers in relevant sectors.
In 2024, we advanced our WITGJ initiative to foster greater gender representation in technology and engineering sectors. We launched the second and third cohorts of the WITGJ program. 65 women had successfully completed training and received certificates, qualifying them for employment and internships in these fields. One of the beneficiaries of the Women in Green Jobs project joined the IHS Technical Internship Program (TIP) as a Surveillance Analyst in the Network Operating Center (NOC). In this role, she plays a pivotal part in ensuring power availability for customer equipment by proactively monitoring site performance and driving the timely resolution of downtime issues, thereby contributing to enhanced operational efficiency and improved service reliability for the business.
Supporting Technovation for Girls
IHS Nigeria also partnered with the NGO Technovation Girls to provide practical experience of STEM. 205 female students participated in a pitch competition for innovation. The students toured our NOC and received support from IHS employees to develop their pitches, and competed for a chance to attend the prestigious International Pitch Summit in San Francisco. This initiative aligns with our mission to advance STEM education, expand opportunities for young innovators, and inspire the next generation to dream big and achieve more.
Promoting Physical Education and Leadership
Recognising the value of sports in fostering leadership and teamwork, we supported the 8th edition of the Nigeria Future Leaders Festival in partnership with the Lagos State Football Association. The event featured the Future Leaders Festival Cup, a football competition among four private schools in Lagos. Held at the Legacy Pitch, National Stadium, Greensprings School emerged victorious. We championed the values of collaboration, determination, and community, reaffirming our commitment to nurturing the potential of young people across Nigeria.
Championing STEM Education
As a leading communications infrastructure company, we recognize Nigeria’s potential to excel in the global technology space. Since 2023, we have continued prioritizing the development of STEM skills through various impactful projects.
School Connectivity
One in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria, and about 10.5 million children are not in school even though primary education is officially free and compulsory. Gender, like geography and poverty, is an important factor in the pattern of educational marginalization. States in the northeast and northwest have female primary net attendance rates of 47.7% and 47.3%, meaning that more than half of the girls are not in school*. To bridge the digital divide and promote STEM literacy in Nigeria, IHS Nigeria partnered with UNICEF on the School-to-School Connectivity project, a pillar under the UNICEF Generation Unlimited Nigeria (GenU) 9JA.
Through this partnership, IHS Nigeria has helped to provide internet connectivity and essential devices, such as tablets, to 956 public secondary schools in underserved communities across States including Benue, Cross River, Ekiti, Kaduna, Enugu, Anambra, Lagos, Ogun, Abia, Ebonyi, Imo, Edo, Osun, Kwara, Plateau, Abuja and Oyo States, enabling them to access the Nigerian Learning Passport, a vital online and offline curriculum application currently reaching approximately 1.7 million users, designed by UNICEF in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education. These efforts are transforming education by enriching learning experiences, empowering communities, and advancing the program’s goals.
First launched to support remote learning during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Nigerian Learning Passport is a digital learning platform with over 15,000 curriculum-aligned educational resources, including interactive lessons, digital textbooks and learning modules. It has become an essential tool for providing quality, and uninterrupted, education to children across Nigeria.
Cristian Munduate,
UNICEF Nigeria Representative
Digital inclusion is at the core of our strategy to address educational disparities.
We partnered with KAD-ICT Hub in 2023 and 2024 for the STEM and Creativity Festival, which brought together 1,114 students and young people from public and private schools and universities, and highlighted Kaduna State’s advancements in STEM and inspired youth to pursue careers in these fields. In addition, in 2023, we hosted a workshop in partnership with STEM4DEV in Lagos for 110 teachers, training them in programming, robotics, and upcycling skills to enhance their capacity to deliver cutting-edge education. This event served as an excellent platform to inspire innovation, promote educational development, and nurture the next generation of leaders in STEM. This has improved resourcing for schools and teachers in delivering STEM interventions, global exposure to opportunities in space education that culminated in increasing awareness for STEM education in public secondary schools.
Throughout 2024, we have continued our efforts to equip educational facilities with essential resources, reinforcing our commitment to community development and quality education. IHS Nigeria donated 10 desktop computers to Abia State College of Health Science and Management Technology, supporting the institution’s mission to empower future healthcare professionals.
IHS Nigeria, through partnerships continues to focus on delivering long-term positive impact, strengthening educational opportunities and supporting the development of business and enterprises.
National Skills Development Framework
In 2023, IHS Nigeria participated in a regional validation workshop of the draft National Skills Development Framework and operationalization plan, organized by the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Skills Development Technical Task Team in collaboration with UNICEF in Lagos. The workshop aimed to present the draft National Skills Development Framework and operations plan to government officials, practitioners and experts, the private sector, civil society, and young people to review the content of the draft framework and discuss how the Framework can best support children and young people and its implementation across Nigeria.
Project Empower
Our dedication to driving economic growth and empowering individuals from underserved communities is evident through our vocational skills training and grant initiatives. One key effort is Project Empower, launched to further economic growth, drive innovation and provide technical and vocational skills. Through the Sustainable Solution Africa Pitch and Awards Program, IHS Nigeria, in partnership with We for Good, provided seed funding to six winning start-ups looking to develop innovative business ideas supporting climate action, sustainable growth and poverty alleviation. It also provided grants to five sustainability-focused start-ups recognized at the 2023 Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Innovation Fair, which was sponsored and hosted in partnership with the Financial Centre for Sustainability Lagos (FCS Lagos), the Nigeria Climate Innovation Center (NCIC) and Financial Markets Dealers Quotations (FMDQ). In addition, through IHS Nigeria’s Project Empower, we provided people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds with training in growing sectors. In 2023, 50 people completed courses in renewable energy, catering and hospitality management through Project Empower.
In 2024, our Project Empower initiative continued to make significant strides. Over the course of the year, IHS Nigeria helped 35 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Imo and Lagos states formally register their business and access financial services, business support and marketing opportunities. This financial support has been instrumental in enhancing their businesses and enabling investments in essential tools and materials.
Recently, IHS Nigeria has committed to sponsoring Imo State’s One Kindred One Business Initiative (OKOBI), an initiative designed to empower small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and drive economic growth, particularly in rural areas. The project serves to support education initiatives delivered by the Imo State Government and highlights the organization’s ongoing and dedicated commitment to supporting local communities and driving economic empowerment.
In addition to education and employment, we promote sustainability, and drive innovation to enhance Nigeria’s economic growth. Nigeria has immense potential to improve its competitiveness, and we are dedicated to supporting that journey.
Driving the Culture of Innovation and Promoting Nigeria’s Digital Economy
In an age increasingly dominated by digital natives, whose lives revolve around technology, IHS Nigeria seeks to support this key cohort with essential skills and support, while also contributing to economic development.
In 2024, construction began on the Ilorin Innovation Hub, which will feature co-working spaces, incubation and acceleration programs, workshops and training on technology and entrepreneurship. Our strategies involved establishing a five-year partnership between the Kwara State Government and IHS Nigeria to cobuild and manage the Ilorin Innovation Hub (IIH). Situated within the burgeoning Nigerian innovation landscape, the Ilorin Innovation Hub plays a pivotal role in nurturing early-stage startups. While its focus may extend beyond purely techdriven ventures, the hub recognizes the crucial role technology plays in empowering solutions across sectors like agriculture, education, and healthcare. This project reflects our continued commitment to creating employment opportunities, spurring innovation, and fostering entrepreneurship and investment. Targeting individuals aged 18 to 35, the hub is specifically designed to combat youth unemployment. Once completed, the hub is expected to be the largest innovation centre in Nigeria. We partnered with the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy for the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program, a critical part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda. This initiative is aimed at building Nigeria’s technical talent backbone to power our digital economy. The first phase of the program, executed in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency, involved multiple stakeholders, including fellows, training providers, partners, and placement organizations. The 3MTT Program has trained over 108,508 learners with digital skills and created a pipeline of hackathons and internship programs for the learners to hone their skills.
We recognise that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a pivotal role in Nigeria’s economic development, contributing to job creation, entrepreneurship, and integration with large-scale industries.
In 2024, IHS Nigeria continued to celebrate significant milestones that support industry, innovation, and infrastructure. We joined the global community in commemorating World Youth Skills Day, amplifying our communications in support of young people under the theme “Youth Skills for Peace and Development.” This day underscores the vital role of empowering youth through skill development. Our dedication to nurturing young talent has fostered innovation, creativity, and skills acquisition, contributing meaningfully to more peaceful and prosperous society.
As part of IHS Towers ongoing commitment to opening new opportunities in STEM education we delivered a one-year partnership with the non-profit organization Limitless Space Institute (LSI). Through this partnership, IHS Towers and LSI aimed to help inspire new generations about the wonders and intricacies of space.
LSI’s 12-month Limitless Global Educator Program provided educators with practical teaching methodologies and STEM education through the lens of space exploration. Through a carefully curated curriculum, 10 educators from Nigeria participated in the program and explored a range of topics, including from spaceship to earth, the solar system, interstellar propulsion, and exploration. The program included monthly virtual workshops where guest speakers provided insights on a wide range of topics. The cohort then met in person at LSI’s Summer Institute in Houston, Texas, where they had the opportunity to engage with astronauts and engineers. They visited NASA and organizations in the space industry to help integrate new knowledge into their teaching methodologies. Their schools also received practical STEM kits which enabled the educators to integrate hands-on STEM learning experiences with their students.
In 2024, the Nigerian educators participated in a roundtable discussion alongside IHS executives and key stakeholders in Lagos to discuss their learnings on integrating STEM education into classrooms through the lens of space exploration. The program has been endorsed by key Nigerian institutions including the Federal Ministries of Education, Innovation Science and Technology, as well as the National Space Research and Development Agency.
Through this program, the Limitless educators were also given a unique opportunity to further apply their course learnings by working with their students to design a simple experiment to fly on the International Space Station. A student, Rashidat Ademosu’s focus on Properties of Pendulums in Microgravity, was selected and slated to fly in space in 2025. Read more about Limitless: Global Educators – Limitless Space Institute
Olayinka Adeosun, Nigeria
In 2024, we announced our partnership with the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) and the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, and the Creative Economy. Together we established the Digital Museum Project, an initiative intended to digitize and preserve Nigerian cultural artifacts. The project will include redesigning the NCMM website, scanning artifacts, developing virtual environments, and quality control. Through this effort, IHS aims to enhance global access to Nigeria’s cultural heritage.
Olugbile Holloway
Director General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments
