The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), in collaboration with the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT), has granted N229 million in grant money to fourteen outstanding female engineers in the Developing Engineering Leaders Through Her (DELT-Her 2.0) initiative.
The awards were presented during a gala dinner at the NASENI headquarters located in Abuja the day before, on Thursday. The program is intended to increase women’s involvement in innovation, engineering, and manufacturing and focuses on the sectors that are essential to the sustainable development of Nigeria.
Empowering Women Engineers Through Innovation
NASENI’s Executive Vice Chair and Chief Executive Officer Khalil Suleiman Halilu said that it is the DELT-Her program that allows women to transform innovative engineering ideas into solutions that have economic and social impact.
“Every woman empowered through DELT-Her represents new capacity for the nation’s technology and manufacturing ecosystem,” Halilu said.
He also revealed his findings that 14 women were with the highest score of all 9,925 proposal proposals, each of whom received a portion of a $229 million grant to create new ideas in agriculture, clean energy, clean technology, and health; digital security mobility; as well as sustainability of the environment.
Halilu stressed that gender equality is not a gesture of charity but a strategy-based investment to boost the national economy. He said that the empowerment of women engineers will speed up the nation’s transition to self-reliance in technology as well as industrial development.
Growth and Impact of the DELT-Her Initiative
The NASENI chief pointed out the first edition of DELT Her, which was held in 2024 and gave N70.5 million in prizes to female engineers. However, DELT-Her 2.0 in 2025 witnessed a massive turnout and received almost 10,000 applications from all over the nation as opposed to 120 applicants in the previous year.
He also said that the mentoring component of the program has increased, increasing from 30 schoolgirls participating by 2024 (within the Federal Capital Territory) to more than 150 students all over Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Nasarawa, and the FCT in 2025.
“These figures show Nigeria’s increasing interest in gender-balanced innovation. When women are offered equal opportunity, they shape whole industries,” Halilu said.
National Support for Technological Inclusion
In his message of goodwill, Dr. Mohammed Dahiru, Chairman of PICTT, felicitated the recipients for their tenacity, creativity, and leadership in engineering. He said that their accomplishments illustrate the under-explored capacity of females who are involved in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
“These women are changing the way innovation is done in Nigeria. The DELT-Her initiative needs to be sustained in order to increase the inclusion of women and to accelerate the development of the nation,” Dahiru said.
Representing in the role of Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio The Chair of the Senate Committee on NASENI, Senator Ezenwa Francis Onyewuchi, reiterated that the National Assembly backsthe agency’s mission to encourage local production, indigenous content, and gender equality.
“A nation that builds its technology builds its destiny, and a nation that empowers its women secures its future,” Onyewuchi stated.
Commendations and Goodwill Messages
The Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Udoka, applauded NASENI and PICTT for collaborating on the Federal Government’s objectives of achieving technological independence, industrial expansion, and empowerment of women.
These messages of goodwill were shared from prominent parties, which included:
- Engr. (Ms) Tola Odeyemi, Postmaster-General of the Federation and CEO of NIPOST
- Hon. Stella Okotete, Executive Director, Business Development, NEXIM Bank
- Mr. Fawaz Amodu, Special Assistant on ICT to the President
- Representatives of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), PenCom, NIMC, and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation
NASENI’s Commitment to Gender Equality in STEM
Halilu confirmed NASENI’s commitment to women’s participation in the fields of engineering and research and in the field of innovation through ongoing mentoring, funding, and collaboration with private and academic partners.
He explained the inclusion of women as a “national economic necessity,” affirming that the empowerment of women engineers improves productivity as well as creativity as well as social progress.
Conclusion
The DELT-Her 2.0 grants are an achievement in Nigeria’s efforts to create an inclusive and gender-neutral technology ecosystem. With the active participation of NASENI, PICTT, and the National Assembly, the initiative will likely result in the next generation of female pioneers capable of driving transformation in the industrial sector as well as sustainability and technological advancement throughout the nation.