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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Vice President Kashim Shettima has applauded the transformative role of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the global entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem, noting that its programmes have helped raise over $1.5 billion and created more than 30,000 direct jobs in the last 20 years.
Shettima spoke on Wednesday when he received a delegation of the Kuo Sharper Foundry Fellowship 2025–2026, led by the Executive Director of MIT’s Kuo Sharper Centre for Prosperity and Entrepreneurship, Dina Sherif, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, according to a statement by his media aide, Stanley Nkwocha.
Describing Africa as the next global growth pole, the Vice President urged African entrepreneurs and professionals to deepen collaboration in order to fully harness the continent’s vast human and material resources, especially by tapping into MIT’s resource mobilisation network and job-creation platforms.
“Africa is the new frontier and the future belongs to the continent, but its people must unite to transform potentials into tangible results that impact lives and livelihoods,” he said.
“Africa is blessed with enormous human and material resources, but its people must fuse into one to benefit from the tremendous opportunities that abound across the continent,” Shettima added.
He also linked the administration’s economic reforms to a broader push to unlock such opportunities, saying President Bola Tinubu is prepared to make difficult decisions to reposition Nigeria.
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He stated: “President Tinubu is not afraid of taking bold decisions that will reposition Nigeria’s economy and better the lives and livelihoods of the people.”
Earlier, Sherif said the delegation was at the State House to brief the Vice President on the work of MIT’s Kuo Sharper Centre for Prosperity and Entrepreneurship, which she said is committed to “fueling the engine of entrepreneurship across the world”.
She explained that the team’s visit to Nigeria was tied to the Kuo Sharper Foundry Fellowship programme, which, according to her, has helped to entrench the spirit of entrepreneurship across the African continent.
Sherif stressed the importance of collaboration among African start-ups and identified Nigeria as a leader in the ecosystem, “as evidenced in the progress recorded by start-ups across the continent”. She further assured of increased support for African-based start-ups from the Centre through its various initiatives.
Also in attendance at the meeting were the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Zubaida Umar, and some fellows of the Kuo Sharper Foundry Fellowship 2025–2026 Session drawn from across Africa.
