Ecobank urges young Nigerians to turn ideas into practical solutions

L-R; Chief Information Officer, Ecobank Nigeria, Adebanke Oladejo; Team Vhorde, the overall winning team of Ecobank InnovateX 2026 Grand Finale, Derick Ogbosa Osarobo; Richard Enegbuma; Henry Uti; and the Head, Products and Analytics, Ecobank Nigeria, Victor Yalokwu at the Ecobank InnovateX 2026 Grand Finale held in Lagos on Friday

Executive Director, Commercial and Consumer Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Kola Adeleke, has urged young Nigerians to turn innovative ideas into practical solutions to challenges across banking, technology, business and society.

He said young people had the potential to drive economic growth by developing ideas that address real-world problems, stressing the need to provide them with platforms, resources and mentorship to transform their innovations into sustainable ventures.

Adeleke spoke at the grand finale of Ecobank Nigeria’s N22m InnovateX Hackathon in Lagos, where he said the initiative was designed to give young Nigerians the opportunity to develop solutions with practical applications.

“InnovateX was created to give young Nigerians a platform to transform ideas into practical solutions to real-world challenges across banking, technology, business and society,” he said.

According to him, the range of ideas presented by participants in areas such as financial technology, artificial intelligence, sustainability, digital services, education and enterprise solutions demonstrated the breadth of innovation among young Nigerians.

He said the bank’s ambition went beyond identifying and rewarding winners, adding that it also sought to nurture promising ideas, strengthen entrepreneurial capabilities and connect innovators with resources, mentorship and networks.

“Our objective goes beyond identifying winners. We want to help nurture ideas, develop entrepreneurial capabilities and connect promising innovators with the resources, mentorship and networks they need to succeed,” he said.

Adeleke said young people were already contributing to economic growth as innovators and entrepreneurs, noting that digital transformation and innovation were important to expanding financial access and creating sustainable economic value.

The competition attracted 168 teams, comprising 672 students from 90 universities across Nigeria. Twenty teams from Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja advanced to the grand finale to present their solutions.

Team Vhorde emerged winner of the competition and received N5m, while E-Nation came first runner-up with N4m. Konvoy finished second runner-up with N3.5m, followed by Kredo and Aselabs.

Ecobank distributed a total of N22m among the 20 finalist teams, with the team placed 20th receiving N500,000.

Head, Products and Analytics, Ecobank Nigeria, Victor Yalokwu, said the hackathon was an extension of the bank’s Blaze youth proposition.

He said the initiative also included a Campus Ambassadors Programme, which provides students with stipends and opportunities to develop leadership and entrepreneurial skills.

The hackathon was organised under Blaze by Ecobank in partnership with Heave Ventures and Verve.