NATIONAL
AUTOMATION
PRIZE NAP 2026
Build for Nigeria. Automate for Scale. Compete with the World.
Nigeria’s national competition for working hardware, automation, AI, robotics, engineering innovation and smart production — built to solve real Nigerian problems and create technologies capable of commercialisation.
What Nigerian problem can you solve with AI, automation or robotics?
NAP 2026 is not asking participants only what technology they know. We are asking what real local problem they can solve with a working, affordable, manufacturable and commercially viable solution.
Every project should begin with a Nigerian challenge and progress toward a physical prototype, practical use, local manufacturing, job creation and eventual African or global scale.
Automation is the bridge between invention and industrialisation.
For Nigerian-made products to compete with imported alternatives, they must be produced with speed, consistency, quality, safety and competitive cost. Automation enables higher productivity, repeatability, lower unit cost at scale, reduced waste and stronger global competitiveness.
Eight tracks aligned with Nigeria’s urgent problems.
The strongest projects will not merely demonstrate technology. They will show a pathway toward reducing imports, creating Nigerian jobs, strengthening local industry and developing products that can serve Nigeria, Africa and the world.
01Smart Automation of Made-in-Nigeria Machines & Process Plants
Transform locally fabricated Nigerian machines and process plants—from agro-processing, water treatment and marine equipment to oil & gas process skids—into efficient, safe and globally competitive systems through PLC/HMI/SCADA, smart instrumentation, AI, robotics, IIoT, intelligent control and remote monitoring.
02AI & Robotics for Agriculture and Food Security
Reduce food cost, post-harvest losses and dependence on manual farming using autonomous farm machines, drones, smart irrigation, crop-disease detection, intelligent livestock systems, dryers, storage technologies and food-processing equipment.
03Intelligent Energy & Smart Power
Build affordable intelligent power solutions that reduce generator dependence and improve reliable electricity for Nigerian homes, farms, businesses and industries through smart solar, microgrids, storage, inverters, metering, optimisation and protection systems.
04Industrial Robotics & Autonomous Systems
Build robots and autonomous machines for difficult, repetitive or dangerous work in manufacturing, logistics, construction, marine operations, inspection, cleaning, warehouses and material handling.
05AI for Oil, Gas & Process Industries
Improve safety, uptime and productivity in oil & gas, refining, petrochemical, cement, LNG and process plants using AI for production optimisation, pipeline integrity, leak detection, production-loss reduction, anomaly detection, digital twins and predictive maintenance.
06Security, Defence & Public Safety Technology
Develop responsible community and national-safety technologies for emergency response, rescue, disaster warning, surveillance, border/perimeter monitoring, missing-person search and communication support.
07Open Engineering Innovation
Have an innovation that does not fit neatly into the other NAP tracks? This is your track. Develop an original engineering or technology solution that addresses a significant Nigerian problem or creates a new opportunity for industry, infrastructure, communities or everyday life.
08Made-in-Nigeria Affordable Automation & Industrial Machines
Build affordable, repairable and locally maintainable technologies Nigeria usually imports: controllers, HMIs, IoT gateways, smart relays, filling and packaging machines, dryers, process equipment, control panels, material-handling systems, mini production lines and SME automation solutions.
NAP 2026 Eligibility
NAP 2026 is open to Nigerian innovators at home and abroad, as well as eligible Nigerian universities, polytechnics, research institutes and technical institutions.
Over ₦50 million in prizes, equipment, training, grants & recognition.
Institution Category
Individual Category
Working hardware + real problem + commercial potential.
NAP strongly encourages local engineering, fabrication, assembly, maintainability and commercial production.
From registration to national recognition.
Registration & Submission
Choose your category and innovation track, register your project and continue preparing for the audition.
State Auditions
Shortlisted participants demonstrate their functional prototypes before the technical assessment panel.
Regional Competitions
Lagos • Port Harcourt • Abuja
National Grand Finale
Lagos — outstanding innovators compete nationally.
A smarter, safer, more productive and more innovative Nigeria is possible.
- DESIGN LOCALLY.
- BUILD LOCALLY.
- AUTOMATE LOCALLY.
- MANUFACTURE LOCALLY.
- EXPORT GLOBALLY.
What are you building?
You do not need to have a fully completed prototype at the point of registration. Register your innovation now and continue developing it. Shortlisted participants must present a functional physical prototype for demonstration and technical assessment during the audition stage.
Tell us clearly what you are building and why it matters.
Applicants should submit a brief project synopsis or proposal describing the innovation, the problem it addresses, how the proposed solution works, and its potential practical and commercial impact. The submission should help the NAP technical team understand what you intend to build, why it matters, and how it could progress from prototype to a useful Nigerian-made product or solution.
Recommended length: 2–5 pages, excluding supporting drawings, photographs and appendices.
The Next Great Nigerian Technology Could Start Here. Build It.
Nigeria should not only import the technologies of the future. We should design them, build them, automate them, manufacture them — and eventually export them.