Moniepoint invests N3bn in university innovation hubs

Moniepoint Inc., the Nigerian fintech and financial ecosystem company, on Monday announced a N3bn commitment to establish innovation hubs across three federal universities in a long-term push to strengthen the country’s digital talent pipeline.

The initiative will see the development of Moniepoint Innovation Hubs at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, over the next three years.

The announcement was formally made at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun State, during a ceremony attended by Vice Chancellors of the three institutions, senior academics, industry leaders, students, alumni, and traditional rulers.

Moniepoint said the selection of the three universities was designed to ensure geographic balance and wider distribution of opportunity across Nigeria, rather than concentrating investment in a single region.

Speaking at the event, Moniepoint co-founder and chief executive officer Tosin Eniolorunda said the initiative was inspired by the company’s own experience of being shaped by Nigerian universities.

“When you look at the success of companies like Moniepoint, it is easy to forget that it all started with the foundational training we received right here in Nigerian universities,” he said.

Each innovation hub will function as a permanent centre for hands-on training in software engineering, artificial intelligence, data science, robotics, product development, design, and entrepreneurship.

The programme is open to students across all faculties and is structured to move participants from foundational exposure to career readiness through cohort-based learning, mentorship, and live project execution.

He said Nigeria’s digital economy requires deeper investment in localised talent density and argued that the hubs would help produce industry-ready professionals capable of building scalable technology products.

Eniolorunda added that the commitment would extend beyond the initial three institutions as part of a broader expansion plan.

Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof Adebayo Bamire described the partnership as a reinforcement of the institution’s belief in knowledge serving society.

He said the hub would expand student learning opportunities and reshape aspirations, while ensuring that the investment translates into tangible outcomes.

Moniepoint said beyond funding infrastructure, it will contribute industry expertise through curriculum design, mentorship, internship pathways, and direct engagement by its engineering and product teams.

The hubs are designed as living institutions where students will work on live projects and gain access to practitioners across Moniepoint’s ecosystem, rather than traditional lecture-based environments.

The initiative builds on earlier interventions by the company’s founders, including a CAD/CAM laboratory at OAU valued at over N100m and the HatchDev programme at the University of Lagos, which trains about 500 developers annually.

Moniepoint said the broader objective is to strengthen Africa’s digital economy by investing in both financial infrastructure and the human capital required to sustain it.

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II,  who also attended the event, described the initiative as a symbolic return of enterprise and innovation to the institution where Moniepoint’s founders were once students.

He referenced the university’s history of producing entrepreneurs and professionals who go on to build large-scale businesses, noting that Moniepoint itself emerged from ideas rooted in the institution’s academic environment.

According to him, the investment reflects a broader culture of “learning and giving back”, adding that many successful individuals trace their beginnings to Nigerian universities such as OAU.

He also recalled earlier private-sector interventions at the university, including similar initiatives by business leaders, and said Moniepoint’s return to invest in the institution demonstrated continuity in the role of alumni-driven development.