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A renewable energy investment company, All On Partnerships for Energy Access, has challenged Nigerian youths to take the lead in developing practical solutions to the country’s energy access challenges, as it marked its 10th anniversary with a clean energy hackathon.
The hackathon, which brought together students from the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lagos State University (LASU), Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) and other institutions, was designed to inspire the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs in Nigeria’s clean energy sector.
Speaking during the event, the Chief Executive Officer of All On, Caroline Eboumbou, said the initiative was a demonstration of the company’s belief that the future of Nigeria’s energy sector would depend not only on investment, but also on the ideas and ingenuity of young Nigerians.
“For the past ten years, All On has invested in people, businesses, and partnerships that are expanding access to clean energy across Nigeria,” Eboumbou said.
She added that the All On @10 Hackathon was designed to build on that commitment by allowing young innovators to develop practical solutions to real-world challenges.
According to her, “The next decade of impact will be shaped not only by the investments we make, but also by the innovators we inspire.”
The competition brought together participants with diverse skills and backgrounds, who were divided into six multidisciplinary teams to develop and pitch innovative solutions to challenges in healthcare, education, agriculture, fisheries, cold-chain logistics and the productive use of energy.
The teams were required to go beyond theoretical ideas, with the organisers challenging them to develop solutions that were technically feasible, commercially viable, financially sustainable, digitally enabled and capable of delivering measurable social impact.
Throughout the competition, the participants refined their ideas through intensive collaboration before presenting their solutions to a panel of experts drawn from the renewable energy, sustainability, innovation and enterprise development sectors.
At the end of the competition, Current Creators, a team comprising students from the participating institutions, emerged winners with ColdLink, an integrated digital platform designed to improve the efficiency of renewable-powered cold-chain logistics.
The innovation combines real-time monitoring, predictive analytics, fleet management and energy performance tracking to address critical challenges in the cold-chain sector.
The solution was adjudged capable of strengthening the operation of clean energy-powered cold-chain infrastructure, reducing post-harvest losses and improving the sustainability of logistics systems.
The judging panel comprised Bolanle Adesan, Senior Consultant at SFM Limited; Dr James Ogunleye, Project Developer at Carbon Limits Nigeria; Henry Bassey, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Green Hub Africa; and Babajide Sokeye, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Associate at All On.
The judges assessed the competing solutions based on innovation, technical feasibility, commercial viability, scalability and potential social impact.
The hackathon formed part of activities marking the 10th anniversary of All On, an independent impact investment company seeded by Shell to catalyse the growth of Nigeria’s off-grid energy market.
The company provides debt and equity funding, as well as non-financial support, to Nigerian energy companies working to expand access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy, particularly for low-income households and small businesses.
Eboumbou said the anniversary celebration was therefore not only about reflecting on the company’s achievements over the past decade, but also about investing in the talent and ideas that would shape the next phase of Nigeria’s clean energy development.
“By creating opportunities for young people to develop practical solutions to real-world challenges, we are helping to build the talent, ideas and leadership that will drive Nigeria’s clean energy future,” she said.
