For decades, the hills of Enugu in south-east Nigeria were synonymous with the black gold that powered empires: coal. But today, the “Coal City” is attempting a radical pivot, swapping underground mining for the digital cloud.
In a move to accelerate this transition, Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has equipped dozens of young innovators with high-end digital tools, part of a broader federal ambition to achieve 70% digital literacy across Africa’s most populous nation by 2027. The initiative, backed by the Enugu State government, saw 50 of the city’s top tech talents receive hardware and resources to move their ideas from prototypes to the global market.
‘From resources to knowledge’
“Enugu was once an energy capital powering industries from beneath the earth,” said Kashifu Inuwa, Director General of NITDA, in a statement delivered by his representative, Dr. Aristotle Onumo. “Today, the energy driving Enugu is the creativity, talent, and determination of its young people.”The shift reflects a wider national strategy in Nigeria to move away from a volatile, resource-dependent economy toward a knowledge-based one. With the global digital economy projected to be worth $23 trillion in the coming years, Nigerian officials are desperate to ensure their youth are creators of technology, not just consumers.
Solving real-world problems
Governor Peter Mbah, who has been commended for turning the state into a burgeoning tech hub, told an audience of international diplomats—including the Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria—and industry giants that the state’s greatest resource is no longer what lies beneath the soil, but what sits between the ears of its citizens.”Find what is broken, understand it deeply, and fix it properly,” Mr. Mbah told the young innovators. He argued that for Enugu to become a “credible node” in the global ecosystem, it must solve local problems using global tools. The state is already putting this into practice, embedding Artificial Intelligence (AI) into its security operations and digitising land administration to cut through the bureaucracy that has long hindered investment in the region.
A regional tech race
The “Enugu Tech Festival” (ETF 2026) has highlighted the state’s progress, including the launch of what is being described as Nigeria’s largest tech hub initiative. From blockchain clusters to “smart green schools,” the city is racing to position itself as a rival to the established tech scenes in Lagos and Nairobi.
For the 50 youths holding their new digital kits, the goal is clear: to ensure that while coal once powered the industrial past, their code will power the digital future.
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