Diamond Bank Leads FG’s campaign to unlock IT innovations, Start-ups Incubation

L- R : Rob Giles, Head, Transaction & E-  banking, Diamond bank plc; Kabiru Aregbesola, Technical Adviser, Office of the Vice President; Moseope Olaosebikan, Special Assistant on Media and ICT, Office of the Vice President; Uzoma Dozie, Chief Executive Officer, Diamond bank plc; and  Lanre Osibona, Senior Special Assistand on ICT, Office of the Vice President  at the 2016 Aso Villa Demo Day (AVDD)  

Diamond Bank has thrown its weight behind Federal Government’s initiative to unlock unprecedented opportunities for young entrepreneurs and information technology start-ups under the Presidency’s pet project tagged “The Pitch” in ‘Aso Villa Demo Day’.

The Aso Villa Demo Day, which is aimed at stimulating innovation, entrepreneurship and technological ideas is a programme of the Federal Government to identify, incubate, mentor, support and celebrate the best in the fields of information technology and entrepreneurship. 

 The Demo Day which held in Lagos yesterday is the first part of a series of events to inspire a movement within the Nigerian economy and it is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship, innovation and fostering job creation and economic growth through the use of new and emerging technologies.

The Bank in partnership with Intermac Consulting and working in line with the vision of the federal government to create IT ‘innovation hubs’, at the programme shared techie ideas with the over 2000 that attended, and entrenched the process that will enhance the identification, adoption, incubation and empowerment of start-ups.

L-R:  Helen Anatogu , Chief Executive Officer , IdeaHub; Uzoma Dozie, Chief Executive Officer, Diamond Bank Plc; and Collins Onuegbu, Chief Executive Officer,  Lagos Angel Network

at the 2016 Aso Villa Demo Day (AVDD) 

Uzoma Dozie, Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank said the Bank is leading the campaign by sponsoring the programme because “We are in the business of promoting ideas.”

He said Diamond Bank was more than just being a bank, but also helping its customers to fulfil their lifestyles, adding that the best resources Nigeria has are its people and that their ideas need an enabling environment to thrive.

Dozie said he believed that this is the beginning of many great things to happen in the economy, remarking that ideas that are technologically based are the only way business are going to grow.

According to the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, the overriding idea is to drive Africa’s technology growth into the mainstream, by providing young entrepreneurs and start-ups the required support to thrive and create innovative solutions to nagging problems.

The Vice President, who was represented by his Personal Assistant and Senior Special Adviser on ICT, Lanre Osibona, noted that the programme was a build up to federal government’s plan to create a technology hub that will stimulated industrial growth by unlicking huge potential in information technology sector.

“The idea is to spur massive IT growth and innovation that will positively affect different sectors of the economy like agriculture, manufacturing, engineering, banking, etc. The objective is that talents, ideas and creativity are nurtured, promoted and transform into value-adding services and products” Osibona stated.

About 2, 000 aspiring entrepreneurs were invited to present their revolutionary business ideas (products or services) before a panel of judges made up of business experts, thought leaders and investors.

The best 50 will qualify for the Presidential unveiling in Abuja at a presentation and exhibition ceremony that will be graced by the President Muhammadu Buhari, ministers and other top government functionaries.