Uthman Fatimah Zahra and the Nigerian team won two awards at the 2026 SEE Pakistan World Startup Championship in Lahore, where eight entrepreneurs supported by the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI) represented Nigeria at the global startup competition.
The Nigerian team won the Country Award in the Growth and Innovation Category. In contrast, Uthman Fatimah Zahra of Nature’s Sleek Limited, a startup incubated at the NBTI Technology Incubation Centre in Minna, Niger State, won the Best Skincare and Beauty Products category.
The NBTI Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Kazeem Raji, announced the achievement in a statement issued on September 18.
The 2026 SEE Pakistan World Startup Championship, organised by the OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation in collaboration with the Association of Private Sector Universities Pakistan, attracted over 4,000 applications from more than 40 countries, according to the Nigerian participants.
The entrepreneurs said their participation followed an invitation extended through the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and NBTI in June 2026, leading to the nomination of entrepreneurs from NBTI’s Technology Incubation Centres across Nigeria.
The participants said the competition provided them with opportunities to showcase Nigerian innovations to an international audience, engage investors and explore potential business partnerships.
They said:
“The various training and certification of the Technology Incubation Programme provided by NBTI, including ISO 9001:2024, project management skills, export preparedness and corporate marketing skills, had long prepared us for a moment like this.”
The team said they also benefited from a boot camp before the competition, which provided opportunities for international business-to-business and business-to-consumer engagements.
They said:
“We exhibited unity, courage and the true attributes of a Nigerian entrepreneur.”
At the championship, participating countries were provided with exhibition booths to market their products and engage venture capitalists, angel investors and potential partners.
Describing their experience, the entrepreneurs said:
“The Nigerian booths were buzzing with activities. This is where the SEE Pakistan turned up to see Nigeria.”
The Nigerian delegation comprised Ndotehyin Kingsley Ekanem of Latent Simulation Works Limited, TIC Uyo; Alawode Olukemi Folasade of Green Oasis Foods, TIC Ile-Ife; Saidat Omowumi Dauda of Abisal Megatop Limited, TIC Ibadan; Uthman Fatimah Zahra of Nature’s Sleek Limited, TIC Minna; Asma Begum Mirza of Muhammad and Roshaneh Farms Limited, TIC Kaduna; Olabode Owoeye of Porter & Briggs Limited, TIC Lagos; Umar Rabiu Oyakhilome of Green-Tech Visionary Enterprise Limited, TIC Bauchi; and Bernard Emeka Eme of Benemes Nigeria Limited, TIC Port Harcourt.
