All on marks 10 years, challenges young innovators to shape Nigeria’s clean energy future

Tony Okoh, Uyo

Chief Executive Officer of All On Partnerships for Energy Access, Caroline Eboumbou, has said the organisation’s hackathon was designed to inspire, empower and equip the next generation of clean energy innovators with the skills and ideas needed to address Nigeria’s energy challenges.

Eboumbou stated this on Wednesday during the celebration of “A Decade of Impact with All On at 10 Hackathon,” where she highlighted the organisation’s contributions to expanding access to clean and sustainable energy across Nigeria over the past decade.

She said that for 10 years, All On had invested in people, businesses and strategic partnerships aimed at driving energy access and supporting the development of Nigeria’s off-grid energy ecosystem.

According to her, the hackathon was a reflection of the organisation’s commitment to nurturing young talents and creating an enabling environment where innovative ideas could be transformed into practical solutions capable of addressing real-world challenges.

She described All On Partnerships for Energy Access as a foremost impact investment company in Nigeria’s energy access sector, noting that the organisation was committed to providing young innovators with opportunities to develop solutions that could help shape the future of the country’s energy industry.

“As we celebrate a decade of expanding energy access across Nigeria, this Hackathon reflects our belief that the next decade of impact will be shaped not only by the investments we make, but also by the innovators we inspire,” she said.

Eboumbou explained that the initiative was aimed at creating opportunities for young Nigerians to develop practical solutions to pressing challenges, adding that All On was contributing to building the talent, ideas and leadership required to drive the country’s clean energy transition.

She said the organisation’s investment in young innovators was part of a broader effort to ensure that Nigeria’s clean energy future was driven by home-grown talent capable of combining technology, entrepreneurship and sustainability.

According to her, All On Partnerships for Energy Access is an independent impact investing company seeded by Shell to catalyse the growth of Nigeria’s off-grid energy market and provide affordable, reliable and sustainable energy solutions to low-income households and small businesses.

She added that the organisation provides debt and equity financing, alongside non-financial support, to Nigerian energy companies whose operations align with its mission of closing the country’s energy access gap through renewable energy solutions.

As part of activities marking its 10th anniversary, All On brought together students from leading tertiary institutions, including the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lagos State University (LASU) and Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), among others, to participate in a practical clean energy innovation challenge.

The participating students were divided into six multidisciplinary teams, bringing together individuals with diverse skills, backgrounds and perspectives to develop and pitch innovative solutions to challenges across critical sectors of the Nigerian economy.

The areas of focus included healthcare, education, agriculture, fisheries, cold-chain logistics and the productive use of energy.

The organisers said the hackathon was designed to promote innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship among young Nigerians while exposing participants to the practical realities of developing solutions that could be deployed in the marketplace.

Participants were challenged to move beyond ideas that were merely technically feasible and instead develop solutions that were commercially viable, financially sustainable, digitally enabled and capable of delivering measurable social impact.

The competition provided the young innovators with an opportunity to demonstrate how technology and clean energy could be combined to address some of the country’s most pressing development challenges.

At the end of the competition, “Current Creators,” a multidisciplinary team comprising participants drawn from the participating institutions, emerged as the winning team.

The team won with its innovative concept, “ColdLink,” an integrated digital platform designed to improve the efficiency and sustainability of renewable-powered cold-chain logistics.

The ColdLink solution combines real-time monitoring, predictive analytics, fleet management and energy performance tracking to improve the operations of cold-chain systems powered by renewable energy.

According to the organisers, the solution demonstrated how digital innovation could be deployed to strengthen cold-chain logistics, reduce post-harvest losses and enhance the long-term sustainability of clean energy-powered infrastructure.

The innovation is particularly significant for sectors such as agriculture and fisheries, where inadequate cold storage and unreliable electricity supply contribute significantly to food spoilage and economic losses.

By integrating digital monitoring and predictive technologies with renewable energy solutions, the ColdLink concept seeks to provide a more efficient approach to managing cold-chain operations while improving energy performance and reducing wastage.

The success of the Current Creators team underscored the potential of Nigeria’s young population to develop technology-driven solutions to critical energy and development challenges when provided with the right platforms, mentorship and opportunities.

The hackathon also reinforced All On’s broader vision of supporting an ecosystem where clean energy companies, technology innovators, young entrepreneurs and other stakeholders can collaborate to accelerate Nigeria’s transition towards affordable, reliable and sustainable energy.

The organisation’s 10th anniversary celebration therefore served not only as an opportunity to reflect on a decade of impact in Nigeria’s energy access sector, but also as a platform to look ahead to the next phase of innovation and investment.

With the growing demand for reliable electricity and the need to expand renewable energy solutions to underserved communities, the organisers said initiatives that empower young people to create practical and scalable solutions would remain critical to achieving a sustainable energy future for Nigeria.

The All On at 10 Hackathon ultimately highlighted the importance of investing in the next generation of innovators, whose creativity, technical expertise and entrepreneurial spirit could play a significant role in transforming the country’s clean energy landscape in the years ahead.