On March 1, 2024, Khalil Halilu Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) shared his thoughts on the 6th month anniversary of his appointment by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
One of the earliest appointees of the incumbent president, the youthful Khalil Halilu comes to the post with an impressive resume. He holds a Master of Science (M.Sc) in International Business and also B.Sc in Business Administration from University of Hertfordshire Hatfield, United Kingdom. He is skilled in Data Science and an expert an expert in Database Administration, Big Data and E-Commerce and Oracle Database Programing 10G.
Career wise, he is an award winning innovator and serial entrepreneur. He founded ShapShap, a logistics business (which won a ‘Innovator Prize’ at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition, GITEX, in Dubai, in 2022); OyaOya, Africa’s first on-demand commodity marketplace, and The CANs Technology Hub, the first eco-friendly Tech Hub in West Africa.
His appointment was in many ways akin to putting a square peg in a square hole and like all transformational leaders, he knew that success would depend on being able to lead and inspire his staff.
So to kickstart his reengineering vision for NASENI, he set up a Committee, constituted of and led by junior-level staff of NASENI and their remit was to come up with recommendations about improving their welfare and kickstarting the journey of making NASENI a public sector employer of choice in Nigeria.
That committee has since submitted its report and over 90% of those recommendations have been implemented from staff welfare to a new strategic launch pad which identified 4 core pillars – Enhance Nigeria’s Manufacturing Capacity; Reduce Nigeria’s Import Bill through R&D; Strategically Reposition NASENI; and Leverage the Comparative Advantages of Nigeria’s 36 States and the FCT – and 9 focus areas which include: Engineering & Manufacturing; Renewable Energy & Sustainability; Health & Biotechnology; Agriculture & Food Sustainability; Transportation & Mobility; Education & Creative Industry; IT & Software; Construction & Smart Cities; and Defence & Aerospace.
A tall order one might say, but Khalil Halilu is not just focused, he is intentional about reengineering NASENI and making it a hub for driving industrial innovation and technology transfer in Nigeria.
Weeks after his appointment, the EVC signed a US$2 billion landmark cooperation agreements—if fully realized—signed with three Chinese companies, at a ceremony presided over by His Excellency Vice President Kashim Shettima, GCON at the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, in Beijing, China, in October 2023.
Next was a US$150 million agreement co-signed with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) with a Chinese company to set up a Lithium-Ion Battery manufacturing and processing factory in Nigeria at COP-28 in Dubai.
His overarching intention is to make NASENI a household name in Nigeria one that will become a synonym for innovation and manufacturing. This will take the form of a rebranding exercise to create awareness and ensure top of mind recall. The second is to produce things that would be useful to the generality of Nigerians.
These are already happening.
Nassarawa state is collaborating with NASENI by providing the agency with Lithium which is available in the state to enable the production of batteries and solar panels.
In February 2024, NASENI launched three sets of NASENI-branded products: a solar-powered irrigation system, electric motorcycles and tricycles, and off-grid solar home systems.
These products will be mass produced and made available in the market soon at affordable prices. The long term goal is to produce enough for export in order to earn foreign exchange and facilitate the diversification of Nigeria’s mono-cultural economy.
Young, cerebral and focused, Khalil Halilu has grand and ambitious goals for NASENI and to underline his resolve, he notes that his anchor quote is by JF Kennedy – “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
His vision for engineering NASENI will not be easy but from what is already emerging, he seems the right man to do those hard things and achieve the stated aim of catalyzing Nigeria’s industrial revolution.