Kano Students Win Nigerian Entrepreneurship Prize With AI Farming App

Four schoolgirls from Kano State have won Junior Achievement Nigeria's 2026 National Company of the Year Competition with an AI platform that diagnoses crop diseases for farmers — and they did it in five Nigerian languages.

The team, Agrolens Technologies from Sunflower School, took the top prize of US$250 plus an all-expenses-paid trip to Cape Town, where it will represent Nigeria at the African Company of the Year Competition against student-led enterprises from across the continent.

The winning product, AgroLens AI, is a free mobile platform that bundles crop disease and pest detection, treatment recommendations, real-time market prices, buyer connections and agricultural financing information into one app. It supports English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and Nigerian Pidgin. Voice-enabled features target farmers with limited literacy or those who simply find speaking easier than typing.

The team comprises Fadillah Abdulsalam, Ruqayya Jallo, Hayfa Mukhtar and Maryam Butu. Judges announced their victory at the national competition and youth entrepreneurship convening in Lagos on Wednesday, 21 October, held under the theme "Augmenting Innovation: Equipping Nigeria's Youth for Entrepreneurship and Livelihoods in a Changing Economy."

Who else won?

New Era Company of Community Secondary School, Asokoro, Abuja, placed second with US$150, and Nexora International School Lagos took third with US$100. New Era collected an additional US$100 for the Best Corporate Social Responsibility Award.

Agrolens Technologies also received the Product Innovation and Operational Excellence Award, presented by Food Concepts. UOFAM Group of Companies from Unique Secondary School, Akure, won the Public Choice Award and US$50. EcoFlame Innovation received the Excellence in Project Management and Execution Award from the Project Management Institute Nigeria.

Ezekiel Sekegh was named Outstanding Volunteer of the Year, while Isaac Egbe of Sunflower School took the Best Facilitator Award.

What does this change for the students?

The competition sits inside JAN's School-to-Work Educational Transition for Long-Term Youth Fulfilment (SET4LYF) programme, which equips girls with practical skills for further education, entrepreneurship and employment. Through Ideathons, JA DEEP and the JA Company Programme, participants build business ideas, solve practical problems and pitch products.

The reach is substantial. A report by THISDAY said SET4LYF reached more than 98,000 girls in its first two years — roughly 49,000 per year.

Beyond the podium, 15 girls from participating schools were selected for a fully sponsored leadership training camp in Ghana in March 2027. Delta Air Lines is funding the programme, which recognises leadership, teamwork, commitment and excellence.

What the officials said

Olaolu Akogun, acting executive director of Junior Achievement Nigeria, argued that practical skills now outrank credentials in a tech-driven economy.

"The young people we are equipping today cannot afford to be prepared only for the opportunities that existed yesterday. Technology is changing how we work, trade and create value. Our responsibility is to ensure that young Nigerians, especially girls, have the skills, confidence and practical experience to participate in and shape that changing economy," Akogun said.

He cited JAN's partnerships with the National Youth Service Corps, the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities and state governments, and called for sustained collaboration to widen access to entrepreneurship education.

Aliyu Abdullahi, assistant director of education and youth development at the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, delivered the keynote on behalf of the minister. He pressed for an education system built on practical competence, not degrees alone.

"Degrees alone are not enough. We must move young people from being consumers of digital technology to becoming creators, problem-solvers and innovators. Training must lead to opportunity, and opportunity must lead to livelihoods," Abdullahi said.

He pushed for stronger collaboration among government, educators and businesses to embed entrepreneurship, apprenticeships, internships and practical skills in learning, and stressed linking youth programmes to market access and the digital economy.

A third straight year for Kano

Edwin Idoko, JAN's Kano State programme officer, credited the state's education authorities, volunteers and field officers for the students' achievement. He noted the win marked Kano State's third consecutive year of success at the national competition — a streak that suggests the state's pipeline for student entrepreneurship is working.

The event also featured a panel on bridging foundational learning with entrepreneurship, examining how mentoring, project management, disability inclusion and private-sector partnerships can turn classroom learning into viable businesses.

FirstBank Nigeria, the Project Management Institute Nigeria, Food Concepts and Nigerian Bottling Company supported the 2026 competition. Next stop for Agrolens Technologies: Cape Town, where a free app built by four teenage girls carries Nigeria's flag into the continental finals.