By John Ikani
The Embassy of the State of Israel in Nigeria, has appointed Hamzat Lawal, Global Citizen and Chief Executive of Connected Development (CODE) as honorary Ambassador of Israel for the Innovation Fellowship for Aspiring Inventors and Researchers (i-FAIR) initiative.
Israeli Ambassador, Mr. Yotam Kreiman, announced Lawal’s Ambassadorship at the opening of the new phase of the accelerator program on December 8, a statement by Oluwaseun Durojaiye, Media Aide to the CEO disclosed.
The initiative, which is being implemented in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President of Nigeria, will empower participants with resources, materials, expertise and mentoring at an ultramodern Innovation/Fabrication Center (Innov8 Hub), where they will build prototypes of their innovative invention and pitch their prototypes to investors at a Grand Finale event, set to hold in 2022.
For this year, even more impact is being targeted as they engage the prowess of Lawal, whose experience and knowledge is considered beneficial for the success and elevation of the program.
Speaking on his new role as Ambassador, Lawal expressed enthusiasm and buttressed the importance of empowerment, innovation and invention in development.
“The i-FAIR initiative comes at a time when the Nigerian youths need the right opportunities and access to resources to take their ideas from seedlings into tangible solutions that can change the course of the country,” he said.
i-FAIR, launched in 2020, was initiated from the experience of Israeli as a Start-up Nation; to give innovative Nigerians a platform to transform their ideas into inventions, inventions into solutions, and solutions into start-ups.
While speaking at the opening event, Kreiman disclosed that the initiative recorded rounds of success in its first project phase, stating that the support and partnership of at least ten government agencies were secured.
“Last year, the i-FAIR graduated 21 fellows, engaged 35 experts, involved 30 investors and facilitated the development of 24 prototypes and got support from ten government agencies and dedicated over 300 hours of mentorship hours to the fellows,” he said.
