NASENI, PICTT Award N229m Grants to 14 Women Engineers Driving National Innovation

NASENI, PICTT Award N229m Grants to 14 Women Engineers Driving National Innovation

By Gloria Sarauniya Usman

ABUJA, NIGERIA November, 2025 - The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), in partnership with the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT), has awarded N229 million in grants to 14 female engineers under the Developing Engineering Leaders Through Her (DELT-Her 2.0) initiative. The grants were presented at an awards ceremony held Thursday at NASENI headquarters in Abuja.

Speaking at the event, NASENI’s Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, described DELT-Her as a strategic platform empowering women to transform bold engineering concepts into real-world solutions. He revealed that the 2025 edition attracted 9,925 project proposals, a dramatic rise from 120 applications in 2024, with awardees emerging from sectors such as clean energy, agriculture, mobility, digital security, health, and environmental sustainability.

Halilu emphasized that gender inclusion remains central to NASENI’s mission, noting that empowering women engineers strengthens the nation’s technology and manufacturing ecosystem. He highlighted the programme’s expansion, which grew from mentoring 30 schoolgirls in the FCT in 2024 to over 150 girls across five states in 2025, equipping them with mentorship, bootcamps, and fabrication kits.

Chairman of PICTT, Dr. Mohammed Dahiru, praised the awardees for their resilience and ingenuity, saying their achievements reflect the transformative potential of women in STEM. He reiterated the Committee’s commitment to sustaining the DELT-Her initiative as a driver of national development and innovation.

Representing the Senate President, Senator Ezenwa Francis Onyewuchi reaffirmed the National Assembly’s support for NASENI’s mandate of indigenous production, local content development, and gender inclusion. He stated that empowering women engineers is critical to securing Nigeria’s technological and industrial future. Additional goodwill messages came from senior government officials and industry leaders, underscoring broad national support for the programme.