Young Africa Innovates: a free programme for your idea, in seven states

This guide is for you if you are 18 to 35, live in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Katsina, Niger, Plateau or Taraba, and have started building a fix for a problem around you: an app half built, a product you have shown to a few customers, a service you have tried in your street.

Young Africa Innovates is a free programme in Nigeria that finds young people solving real problems and backs the ones it selects with training, mentors, help to build and test the idea, money, and help reaching customers. It is a partnership of two bodies: the United Nations' development agency in Nigeria (UNDP, the United Nations Development Programme), which runs it, and a large Canadian charity (the Mastercard Foundation).

Cohort 2, the group it is choosing now, takes applications until 18 November 2026. You apply on your phone, on the programme's own site, with your idea, your National Identification Number (NIN) and a one-minute video you record yourself. No registered business, no one to know, no visa and no travel abroad. This guide takes you from the idea you have today to your first day of incubation (the months of hands-on support after the selection), one stage at a time: what you do, where, what you need, what it costs, how long it takes, and what comes next. The window and what you can still finish come first, because the close decides what you can do; the three things most people come for (what to say in your one-minute video, what to have ready and the form's link) sit right after. Updated on 3 November 2026.

Applying costs nothing: no page of the programme prints a fee, and its own help line will take you through the form free of charge (a call costs your airtime). The money: the programme says "Selected innovators receive financial support." It prints no amount for Cohort 2. In the first round, in Anambra, 23 businesses at the idea stage got ₦4 million each, 4 with a prototype got ₦7.5 million each and 4 with a working prototype got ₦14 million each, ₦178 million in all. That is Anambra's record from the first round; no page says this round pays the same. The programme chooses who goes forward, and nobody can promise you a place or any money.

Three things decide whether you can apply: your age, where you live, and an idea you have started. On where you live, two official pages read differently, and the stricter one is the one that counts. You must be 18 to 35 on the day you apply, and you must live in one of the seven Cohort 2 states. UNDP's own announcement of 1 September 2026 names the seven states as added "In addition to the existing Cohort 1 participating states", and some people read that as Lagos, Anambra and the other first-round states being open too. They are not: the programme's own site says "Cohort 2 applicants must be resident in one of the seven Cohort 2 states." If you live in Lagos, Anambra, Borno, Ekiti, Kaduna or Kwara, this round is not yours; send this guide to someone who lives in one of the seven.

Where the window stands today

On 3 November 2026 the Cohort 2 window is open. The programme's home page reads "Cohort 2 Application open 1 September" to "18 November 2026". It prints no hour and no time zone for the close, so treat 17 November 2026 as your last safe day. On 3 November 2026 the programme's own count read "5,576 Applications received".

If you are reading this after 18 November 2026, this window has closed. If you submitted in time, go to Stage 6 (the wait). If you did not, go to Part 8, If the window has closed.

From today: what you can still finish

Count the days from today to 17 November 2026 and find your row. Then find the column for what you already hold. The form itself saves as you go, and with your answers written first most of it is typing; the slow parts are your NIN slip, your one-minute video and the answer about two existing solutions.

If you are 36 or older on the day you apply, or you live outside the seven states, this round is not yours. If your idea is still only in your head and you have not started turning it into something people can use, read Check that you can start in Part 1 first.

What to say in your one-minute video, what to have ready and the form's link

These are the three things this route turns on. Each comes from the programme's own "Before you begin" page, which lists everything the form asks for so you can gather it first.

What to say in your one-minute video

The form asks for "A pitch video of about one minute. Tell us who you are and explain your solution in your own words". A pitch is a short talk where you present your idea. Record it on your phone; you upload it near the end of the form.

That is all the form says about the video. The order and the seconds below are this guide's suggestion, not the form's, built from the form's own six questions, so your video and your written answers tell the same story:

1. About 10 seconds: who you are. Your name, your state and what you do now.
2. About 15 seconds: the problem. What goes wrong, who it hurts, and where you have seen it yourself. The reviewers weigh your own experience of the problem: the home page lists "Lived experience of the problem" among what they weigh.
3. About 20 seconds: your solution. How it works, step by step, and what you have already built or tried.
4. About 10 seconds: what is different. Name two things people already use for this in Nigeria, and say what yours does better, cheaper or closer to the people who need it.
5. About 5 seconds: what you want. What you hope to get from the programme.

Speak to the camera as you would explain it to a customer at your stall, in your own words. The page names no language for the video or the answers; if you would rather speak Hausa, Efik or Pidgin, ask the help line first. Film in a quiet room with the light on your face, the phone held still at eye level. One clean take is enough; the form does not ask for editing. People who did it wrote online in 2026: one applicant this round shared a pitch that ran to more than a minute and a half. Keep yours to about one minute, as the form asks. Upload it only into the form: a video you post publicly shows your idea to everybody.

What to have ready

Find these first, because they can take time (the page heads them "Documents to find now"):

• Your NIN: "the 11 digits on your NIN slip".
• A photo of your ID: "NIN slip, voter card, driver's licence or passport. A photo taken on your phone is fine".

Record on your phone (you upload these near the end):

• The one-minute video above.
• "A photo, drawing or PDF of your prototype or idea" (a prototype is the first working or sample version of what you are building).
• "If you have it: proof that people have tried your solution, such as photos or written feedback".

The details about you the form asks:

• Your email address.
• "Three phone numbers of 11 digits each: yours, your WhatsApp, and someone else we can try, such as a parent, spouse or guardian". Each in the 11-digit form you dial at home (0803 ...), not the +234 form. If your WhatsApp is on your own number, the page does not say whether you may give it twice: ask the help line before you fill that part.
• Your address, your state and your Local Government Area (your LGA, the local council area you live in).
• Your date of birth, your education, and what you do now.
• Whether you have a disability, and any help you would need to take part.

The six questions ("Reviewers read these answers closely. You can draft them on paper or in your notes first."):

1. What problem you are solving, and who it affects.
2. How your solution works, step by step.
3. What is new about it, and how it differs from at least two existing solutions in Nigeria.
4. Why you care about it, with an example from your own life.
5. Who benefits, and how.
6. What is holding you back, and what you hope to get from the programme.

If you already have a business ("Rough figures are fine."): whether you have received funding, from whom and roughly how much; your revenue in the last 6 months; how many people aged 18 to 35 work with you; and your business registration number and certificate from the government's company register (the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC), if the business is registered. "You do not need a registered business to apply. Most applicants do not have one."

The form's link

Young Africa Innovates, Before you begin, opens in a new tab (https://youngafricainnovates.ng/before-you-apply). The "Apply Now" button on the programme's home page opens the same page. It shows everything above, then "Create my account". The account asks only an email address and a password of "At least 12 characters", then you press "Create account and start". The programme's words: "The whole application works on a phone, including uploading a photo or video of your solution." Your answers save as you go, and if your connection cuts, what you typed is kept and sent when you are back online; you can stop and finish later, "on a different phone if you need to". The form closes on 18 November 2026. Submit by 17 November.

Stuck? The programme's help is free (the call or message is at your normal airtime), and you do not need to have started first: +234 816 947 1572, +234 816 974 6601, +234 816 955 0318, +234 816 950 3707, or hello@youngafricainnovates.ng. "Call or message any of these numbers if you need help applying. Somebody can take you through the form."

The answer that needs the most care. The third question asks how your idea "differs from at least two existing solutions in Nigeria". Writing "nobody is doing this" leaves that question unanswered. Name two things people already use for this problem (a product, an app, a market practice, a government service, what your customers do today), and say in one plain line what yours does better.

Part 1. Before you start

What this is

Young Africa Innovates is a programme that takes a young person's idea and helps it become a working business: "From your idea to a working business". Its site describes "Five steps, over about a year":

1. Apply: "Tell us about yourself and your idea."
2. Get selected: "We read your application and choose who goes forward."
3. Learn: "Take part in training and mentoring in your state." The programme calls this the bootcamp: "Intensive in-state training sharpens the problem, the business model and the pitch."
4. Build: "Develop and test your solution with hands-on support." This is the incubation: "Selected ventures get hands-on support, mentorship and resources to build for real customers."
5. Grow: "Get help reaching customers and markets." The site calls it market access: "Graduating ventures connect to markets, capital and partners to scale beyond their state."

What selected innovators get, in the site's words: "Training: Learn how to improve your idea." "Mentoring: Get advice from people who can help." "Develop your idea: Turn your idea into something you can test." "Funding: Selected innovators receive financial support." "Grow: Get support to take your solution further." UNDP's announcement of Cohort 2 adds "Technical mentorship and business advisory services", "Product and prototype refinement", "Exposure to investors, grant opportunities, and financing pathways" and "Opportunities to showcase their innovations nationally and internationally".

The bodies you will deal with

• Young Africa Innovates (YAI): the programme. Its site is youngafricainnovates.ng; the form, the help line and the email are all there. "A partnership between UNDP and the Mastercard Foundation", from 2023 to 2027 by the site's own dates.
• The United Nations' development agency in Nigeria (UNDP Nigeria): it runs the programme and leads the choice of innovators. In the first round, the choice after the bootcamp "began with assessments by bootcamp facilitators across seven states, followed by an in-depth technical review by the UNDP team. The final list was independently validated by the State Steering Committees", a committee in each state.
• A large Canadian charity (the Mastercard Foundation): UNDP's partner in the programme. UNDP describes it as "a registered Canadian charity and one of the largest foundations in the world".
• Your state's focal point: a person in each Cohort 2 state to answer questions locally. Today every state reads "Contact details are being confirmed. Until then, use the phone numbers above." The focal points' contacts: we cannot tell yet.
• The facilitators and mentors: trainers and experienced people the programme recruits for the bootcamp and the incubation.

Nobody gets you in but your own form. A group on WhatsApp, a Facebook page or a person who offers to get you in, or asks you to pay, is not the programme. Apply only on youngafricainnovates.ng, and for help use the four phone numbers and the email the site prints. UNDP's plan for the firms bidding to screen the forms includes short verification calls, so a call about your form may come from a number you do not know. Whoever calls, never pay, and never give your bank login, your card details or a code sent to your phone.

The money, in plain words

What you pay: nothing. No page of the programme prints a fee. Its help is free; a call costs your airtime.

What the programme says it gives: "Funding: Selected innovators receive financial support." The money comes in stages: the programme's call for mentors says a mentor helps each innovator "prepare progression to the next stage and financial tranche" (a tranche is one part of a payment that comes in parts). How much Cohort 2 pays, and in how many parts: we cannot tell yet.

What the first round paid, in one state. Anambra State's innovation agency (the Solution Innovation District) reports its first-round grants and its showcase (a public day where innovators show what they built) of 4 December 2025 in Awka: "A total of ₦178 million was awarded to 31 high-potential innovators". The split was by how far each business had gone:

• 23 "Ideation-stage businesses", "₦4M each" (₦4 million each, at the idea stage);
• 4 "Prototyping-stage businesses", "₦7.5M each" (₦7.5 million each, building a first version);
• 4 "Businesses with functional prototypes", "₦14M each" (₦14 million each, with a version that works).

That is Anambra's record, said as Anambra's, and no page says Cohort 2 will pay the same.

The figure that confuses people. A news blog's headline of 5 September 2026 sells a "$25,000 Grant Potential" (about ₦33.3 million at ₦1,333 to the US dollar, the rate of 20 October 2026). Its own text says the public information "does not establish a universal $25,000 cash payment for every successful applicant", and no page of the programme prints a dollar amount. Go by the programme's site.

Who this is for

You are 18 to 35 on the day you apply. You live in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Katsina, Niger, Plateau or Taraba. You have an idea that solves a real problem, and you have already started turning it into something people can use. Any field: "Any sector is welcome. There is no list of allowed fields." You do not need a registered business, a degree or money behind you. UNDP's announcement says applications are open to young Nigerians aged 18 to 35 "from underserved communities, young women and persons with disabilities"; the programme's own page says your age, where you live and an idea you have started "are the only things that decide whether you can apply". The programme's own targets for this round: "80% participation by women and 10% by persons with disabilities".

Check that you can start

The programme's own page says: "These are the only things that decide whether you can apply." Answer these three questions in order. A "no" tells you where you stand.

1. Are you between 18 and 35 on the day you apply? "You must be from 18 and not older than 35 years old at the time of application." If you turn 36 before 18 November 2026, submit before your birthday.
2. Do you live in one of the seven states? "You must live in one of the seven Cohort 2 states." The form asks your address, state and Local Government Area. This is where you live now, not your state of origin: someone from Katsina who lives in Kano cannot apply this round, and someone from Ogun who lives in Calabar can, if the other two things hold. If you live in one of the seven for school or for your service year, no page says whether that counts: call the help line before you apply. If you live elsewhere, this round is not yours. Never give an address in one of the seven where you do not live, a relative's or anybody's: the rule is where you live, and a borrowed address is a false answer on your form.
3. Does your idea solve a real problem, and have you started turning it into something people can use? "You must have an idea that solves a real problem, and have started turning it into something people can use." A sketch you have shown to customers, a first sample, a small test in your street, an app with its first screens: each counts as a start. If the idea is only in your head, make the first small version this week, show it to three people, and write down what they said.

One more thing to settle for yourself, which the programme does not check: can you give the time? The bootcamp is days of training in your state, and the incubation runs for months (Stages 7 and 8). If you work for someone, plan who covers you.

Nothing on the programme's pages asks for a registered company, a degree or a set amount of sales. "Can I apply if I have received funding before? Yes. ... It does not disqualify you."

What the reviewers look for

None of this decides whether you can apply; it is what the reviewers read for once you have. The programme's "What makes a strong application":

• "You understand the problem."
• "You have a clear idea for solving it."
• "You can explain why the problem matters."
• "You have experience of the problem, or of the community it affects."
• "You have started testing your idea."
• "You are willing to learn and improve it."

And the home page's list, "Reviewers also weigh": whether it can create jobs ("Job creation prospect"); your own life with the problem ("Lived experience of the problem"); a business that makes money, not a charity ("For-profit model"); proof that it works ("Proof of concept"); whether it can grow to serve many more people ("Scalability"); whether you are ready to build it with others and take advice ("Co-creation readiness"); and the good it does around you ("Community Impact").

So write it like this. Start with the problem people around you have, with one real example you lived or saw. Say how your solution works, step by step. Name two things people use now and what yours does better. Say what you have already built or tested, and what people said. Say what the programme would let you do next. If your idea is an app for market women's orders, write about the orders that get lost, the traders who tried it, and the two ordering habits it replaces. Say only what is true: if you go forward, you stand behind every line at the bootcamp.

The one thing to read right

The first round's ₦4 million is not what everybody gets, and a blog's dollar headline is not a promise. The programme prints no Cohort 2 amount. What you are working for is a place in the training, a mentor, help to build and test your idea, and the financial support the programme gives the people it selects, stage by stage.

Part 2. The whole journey on one page

1. Check that this round is yours (Stage 1). Today. Age, state, an idea you have started.
2. Find your NIN and photograph your ID (Stage 2). Today or tomorrow. Free.
3. Write your six answers in your notes (Stage 3). Two or three evenings. Free.
4. Record your one-minute video and photograph your prototype (Stage 4). An hour. Free.
5. Make your account and fill the form (Stage 5). One evening, by 17 November 2026. Free.
6. The wait and the checks (Stage 6). The programme checks your age and your state, reads your idea and gets in touch if you go forward.
7. The bootcamp in your state (Stage 7). Days of training; the reviewers choose who goes on to incubation.
8. Your first day of incubation (Stage 8). Months of hands-on support, mentors and the financial support the programme gives, stage by stage.
9. Reaching customers (Stage 9). Help reaching customers and markets; in the first round, Anambra ended with a showcase.

What runs at the same time: while you look for your NIN slip (Stage 2), write your answers (Stage 3). While you wait (Stage 6), keep building, keep showing it to customers, and keep your phone on.

Part 3. Stage by stage

Stage 1. Check that this round is yours

Back to the short stages

Why. The programme checks two things before it reads anything else: "We check your age, and whether you live in a participating state." A form from outside the seven states, or from someone over 35, does not meet the rule.

What you do. Today, open three of the programme's pages and read each from top to bottom:

1. Young Africa Innovates, home, opens in a new tab: the window, the seven states, who can apply.
2. Who can apply, opens in a new tab: the four lines and what makes a strong application.
3. How it works, opens in a new tab: the five steps and what happens after you apply.

Then answer the three questions of Check that you can start.

What you need. Your phone and data.

What it costs. Nothing.

How long. An evening.

How you know it is done. You can say yes to all three questions and to the time, and you know the close is 18 November 2026.

What opens next. Stage 2, your NIN and ID.

What goes wrong, and what you do. A repost tells you the call has closed, or gives another closing date. Go by the programme's home page: 1 September to 18 November 2026. A repost says Lagos can apply: the programme's site says the seven states only.

Stage 2. Find your NIN and photograph your ID

Back to the short stages

Why. The form asks for both, and they are the papers that take longest to find. The page calls them "Documents to find now: These can take time to get hold of, so start here."

What you do.

1. Find your NIN slip, or any card or paper that shows your National Identification Number. The form asks for "the 11 digits on your NIN slip". Write the 11 digits in your notes.
2. Photograph one ID with your phone: your NIN slip, your voter card, your driver's licence or your passport. "A photo taken on your phone is fine." Lay it flat on a dark surface, in daylight, with all four corners in the picture and every word readable.
3. Ask the person whose number you will give as your third phone number (a parent, spouse or guardian) whether they will pick up a call about you.
4. Check that you can open an email inbox on your phone, and that you know its password. If you have none, make a free one tonight: Google's own steps for a Gmail account, opens in a new tab are "go to the Google Account sign in page", "Click Create account", choose "For my personal use", then "follow the on-screen instructions".

What you need. Your NIN slip or an ID that shows your NIN, and a phone camera.

What it costs. Nothing.

How long. Minutes if the slip is at hand; longer if you must search for it.

How you know it is done. The 11 digits are in your notes, a clear photo of your ID is on your phone, and you can open your email.

What runs at the same time. Stage 3, your answers.

What opens next. Stage 4, the recordings.

What goes wrong, and what you do.

• You enrolled but cannot find your slip or your number. The government body that issues the NIN (the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC) says: "Forgotten your NIN? You can dial *346# on your phone to retrieve your NIN." Dial *346# from the phone number you enrolled with and choose "NIN Retrieval" (type 1). It costs ₦20 from your airtime: "using this service attracts a N20 ... fee only (deducted from your phone credit balance)". If that phone number is gone, visit any NIMC office near you, or call NIMC's free line, 08000616462.
• You have never enrolled for a NIN. The form asks for the number. Enrolment is free: NIMC says "Enrolment of individuals remains free." After you enrol you get a slip (the Transaction ID Slip), and NIMC asks you to come back for your NIN within 1 to 5 working days, depending on the network and its checks. Enrol tomorrow, or this week at the latest, at any NIMC office near you; NIMC's free line, 08000616462, can tell you where. Do not pay anyone who offers to speed up your enrolment: NIMC says not to.

Stage 3. Write your six answers in your notes

Back to the short stages

Why. "Reviewers read these answers closely." They are where the reviewers meet your problem, your solution and you.

What you do. Open your notes app, or a sheet of paper, and write an answer to each of the six questions in What to have ready. Write the third one first: "What is new about it, and how it differs from at least two existing solutions in Nigeria". Name two things people already use, and what yours does better. For the fourth, "Why you care about it, with an example from your own life", tell one true story from your life, in a few lines. Keep each answer short and plain, in your own words. If you have a business, note your rough figures too: the funding you have had, your revenue in the last 6 months, how many people aged 18 to 35 work with you.

What you need. Your notes, and an evening or two.

What it costs. Nothing.

How long. Two or three evenings.

How you know it is done. You have six answers in your notes, and the third names two existing solutions.

What runs at the same time. Stage 2, if you are still looking for your NIN slip.

What opens next. Stage 4.

What goes wrong, and what you do.

• You wrote "nobody is doing this". Rewrite it: name two things people use today, even if they are not apps (a market practice, a middleman, a government service), and say what yours does better.
• You wrote what you hope to do and nothing you have done. Add what you have built or tried, and what people said.
• You wrote a long speech. Cut each answer to what a reviewer can read in a minute.

Stage 4. Record your one-minute video and photograph your prototype

Back to the short stages

Why. The form asks for "A pitch video of about one minute" and "A photo, drawing or PDF of your prototype or idea". The video lets the reviewers hear you explain your idea in your own words.

What you do.

1. Read your six answers aloud once. Then record the video in the order this guide suggests in What to say in your one-minute video: who you are, the problem, your solution, what is different, what you want.
2. Photograph what you have built: the app's screens, the product, the sample, the setup in use. If it is only a drawing, photograph the drawing, or save it as a PDF.
3. If people have tried it, photograph what shows it: a written note from a customer, a message, a photo of it in use.

What you need. A phone with a camera and space for the video, a quiet room, daylight.

What it costs. Nothing but your data when you upload.

How long. An hour, with a few takes.

How you know it is done. You have a video of about one minute and your prototype photos, saved on your phone.

What opens next. Stage 5, the form.

What goes wrong, and what you do.

• The video runs to two minutes: record it again with a shorter problem part, and keep the part where you show what you built.
• The video talks only about the problem: the form asks you to "explain your solution". Show it.
• Your phone is short of space: delete what you can before you record, so the video saves whole.

Stage 5. Make your account and fill the form

Back to the short stages

Why. The form is your application. Nothing else gets you in.

What you do.

1. Open Before you begin, opens in a new tab. Read it once more, then press "Create my account".
2. Type your "Email address" and choose a password: "At least 12 characters. Three words you will remember is easier than one complicated word." Press "Create account and start". Use an email you read every day.
3. Fill the form: your details, your NIN, your ID photo, your three phone numbers, your address, state and Local Government Area, your six answers (paste them from your notes), and near the end, your video and your prototype photo.
4. Read the whole form once more and submit. Take a screenshot of what the site shows after you submit, and keep any email that follows.

The "Before you begin" page says it shows "everything the application asks for".

If you stop halfway. Your answers save as you go. Come back through Sign in, opens in a new tab, on this phone or another. If you forget your password, the sign-in page has "I have forgotten my password" and "Email me a code instead".

What you need. Everything from Stages 2 to 4, your email, and data for the uploads.

What it costs. Nothing.

How long. One evening, with your answers ready.

How you know it is done. You have submitted and kept the screenshot.

When. By 17 November 2026. The site prints "18 November 2026" and no hour.

What opens next. Stage 6, the wait.

What goes wrong, and what you do.

• The upload stops on a weak network: your answers are kept; try the video again on a stronger network.
• You are stuck on any question, or the form will not take your NIN: call +234 816 947 1572, +234 816 974 6601, +234 816 955 0318 or +234 816 950 3707, or write to hello@youngafricainnovates.ng. "Somebody can take you through the form."

Stage 6. The wait and the checks

Back to the short stages

Why. The programme reads the forms and chooses who goes forward.

What happens, in the programme's own order ("What happens after I apply?"):

1. "We check your age, and whether you live in a participating state."
2. "We read your idea, and the problem it sets out to solve."
3. "We consider your own experience of that problem."
4. "We weigh whether the solution can work, and grow."
5. "If you go through to the next stage, we get in touch."

What you do. Keep the three phone numbers on the form switched on and answered, and tell the third person a call may come for you. UNDP's own terms for the firms bidding to screen Cohort 2 applicants plan "10-minute verification calls" and "GPS-tagged" photographs of prototypes (photos that record where they were taken), a plan written for those firms, not a promise of what happens. Keep your prototype where you live and to hand. Watch the inbox and the spam folder of the email on your account. Keep building, and keep showing your idea to customers.

What it costs. Nothing. A call or message that asks you for money to move you forward, to "process" your form or to release funds is not from the programme. Do not pay, and never give your bank login, your card details or a code sent to your phone.

How long. The site prints no date for hearing back. When shortlisted applicants hear: we cannot tell yet. The site says only "If you go through to the next stage, we get in touch"; it prints no message for those not taken.

How you know it is done. The programme gets in touch with you about the bootcamp.

What opens next. Stage 7, the bootcamp.

If you hear nothing. You may write to hello@youngafricainnovates.ng and ask where your application stands. Meanwhile, read If you are not chosen in Part 4.

Stage 7. The bootcamp in your state

Back to the short stages

Why. It is where you sharpen your idea and where the reviewers choose who goes on to incubation. The programme's words: "Shortlisted innovators train in-state to sharpen the problem, the model and the pitch."

What happens. The site calls it "Intensive in-state training". UNDP's own terms for the firms bidding to run the Cohort 2 bootcamps (a plan written for those firms, not a promise to you) describe "the 4-day residential bootcamp", meaning four days at the venue where you also sleep, with "accommodation, refreshments, catering, venue, travel stipends and transport" (travel stipends are money towards your fares) provided by the programme's partner and "on-site childcare/crèche facilities for women innovators". The same terms say "Bootcamp activities will not include the provision of any financial support": by that plan, no grant is paid at the bootcamp. Another UNDP paper plans the bootcamp at "2-3 days"; plan for four. In the first round in Anambra, all of the 300 shortlisted were "Accommodated", "Provided with meals", "Transported to programme activities" and "Covered for basic medical needs".

What you do. When the programme gets in touch, clear the days, and arrange who covers your work and your home. Bring your phone, your prototype or its photos, and your answers. Be ready to say your problem, your solution and what makes it different in two minutes, in your own words: in the first round, the choice after the bootcamp began with "assessments by bootcamp facilitators", then "an in-depth technical review by the UNDP team", then the state committee.

What you need. The days free, your prototype, your pitch.

What it costs. Nothing is printed as a fee. UNDP's plan for the bootcamp firms covers your stay, meals and transport; your real cost is the days away from work.

How long. About four days, by UNDP's plan. Where and when in your state: we cannot tell yet.

How you know it is done. The programme tells you whether you go on to incubation.

What opens next. Stage 8.

What goes wrong, and what you do. You cannot make the dates (a job, a child, an exam): tell the programme at once on the four numbers or the email. You are not taken on to incubation: go to If you are not chosen.

Stage 8. Your first day of incubation

Back to the short stages

This is the arrival, for the innovators picked after the bootcamp. You walk into the first session of your incubation, with your idea in hand, a mentor's name on your phone and the people of your cohort around you, building for real customers. The site's words: "Selected ventures get hands-on support, mentorship and resources to build for real customers."

What happens. "Build: Develop and test your solution with hands-on support." UNDP's plan for the Cohort 2 partners says "The incubation process lasts for 3 months", and that "Mentors are expected to support the innovators for 8 months even beyond the three months incubation." The site prints incubation as "November 2026 to January 2027". In the first round, the incubation ran "from August to December 2025" with "expert mentors, technical support, market access, peer learning and financial support".

The money. "Funding: Selected innovators receive financial support." It comes stage by stage: your mentor helps you "prepare progression to the next stage and financial tranche". How much, and when each part is paid: we cannot tell yet. Anambra's first round paid ₦4 million each at the idea stage, ₦7.5 million each at the prototype stage and ₦14 million each with a working prototype. That is Anambra's record from the first round; no page says Cohort 2 pays the same. Keep a record from your first day of what you spend and what you build: your mentor helps you prepare each next stage and its tranche.

What you do. Go to every session, take your mentor's advice into the week's work, test your solution with real customers, and keep your records.

What it costs. Nothing to take part. Your time, your data and your transport to sessions.

How long. Three months of incubation, by UNDP's plan, with your mentor for eight.

In the programme's own film, first-round innovators said it "gives us the validity to know that what we are building is actually realistic", and that it taught them "to be self reliant, to be reliable, to be time conscious".

What opens next. Stage 9.

Stage 9. Reaching customers

Back to the short stages

Why. "Grow: Get help reaching customers and markets." "Graduating ventures connect to markets, capital and partners to scale beyond their state."

What happens. In the first round, Anambra ended with a showcase, a public day where the innovators show what they built: "On 4th December 2025, the innovators showcased their ideas at the YAI Innovation Showcase held in Awka". UNDP's announcement lists "Market readiness and commercialization support" and "Exposure to investors, grant opportunities, and financing pathways".

What you do. Have a working sample, your prices and a short pitch ready for buyers and partners.

What it costs. Nothing.

What follows. The programme's last step, in its own words: "Grow: Get support to take your solution further."

Part 4. What can stop you

Your deadlines

• 17 November 2026: your last safe day to submit. The site prints "18 November 2026" and no hour.
• Your 36th birthday: if it falls before 18 November 2026, submit before it.
• The bootcamp: its dates come when the programme gets in touch.

What stops people, and what you do

• Living outside the seven states. The rule is where you live. An address where you do not live breaks it.
• Somebody else's NIN, or a date of birth that is not yours. The form asks for your NIN and your date of birth. Giving another person's NIN, or changing your date of birth to fit the age, is a false answer on a form that carries your name. If you are over 35 or live outside the seven, this round is not yours.
• An answer that says nobody else is doing it. Name two existing solutions and what yours does better.
• A video that talks about the problem and never shows what you built. Show the solution.
• No NIN at hand. Start your search tonight (Stage 2).
• Submitting on the last evening. No hour is printed. Submit by 17 November 2026.
• Missing the call. Keep the three numbers on the form switched on and answered.
• Paying somebody. There is nothing to pay. The programme's help is free. Anybody who asks for money to get you in, or to release funds, is not the programme.
• Believing a repost. Go by youngafricainnovates.ng for the dates, the states and the money.

If you are not chosen

The programme runs in rounds: Cohort 1 ran in seven states, Cohort 2 runs in seven, and the site gives the whole programme the years 2023 to 2027. No page says whether there will be a Cohort 3, or which states it will take. Keep your answers and your video, keep building and keep your customers' feedback, and look at the programme's home page at the start of each month.

Part 5. If you already did some of this

Start at the first stage you have not finished.

• You know you can apply. Start at Stage 2 today.
• You have your NIN and ID photo. Start at Stage 3.
• You have written your answers. Start at Stage 4.
• You have your video and photos. Start at Stage 5 and submit by 17 November 2026.
• You made an account and stopped halfway. Sign in, opens in a new tab and finish (Stage 5).
• You have submitted. Start at Stage 6: keep your phone on.
• The programme has called you to the bootcamp. Start at Stage 7.
• You are in incubation. Start at Stage 8.

Part 6. The time, stage by stage

• Stage 1, the check: an evening.
• Stage 2, your NIN and ID: minutes if your slip is at hand; 1 to 5 working days after you enrol if you have none.
• Stage 3, your answers: two or three evenings.
• Stage 4, the video and photos: an hour.
• Stage 5, the form: one evening, by 17 November 2026.
• Stage 6, the wait: no date printed.
• Stage 7, the bootcamp: about four days in your state, by UNDP's plan.
• Stage 8, the incubation: three months, with your mentor for eight, by UNDP's plan.
• Stage 9, reaching customers: after the incubation; the site prints no length.

Part 7. The money, all of it

Every amount here is in naira as published.

Part 8. If the window has closed

The window for Cohort 2 closes on 18 November 2026. The programme prints no next window: no page says yet whether there will be a Cohort 3, when, or in which states.

What you do now, for the next window:

1. Keep your NIN slip and your ID photo where you can find them.
2. Keep building. Turn the idea into something people can use, and write down what each person who tried it said.
3. Keep your six answers and your one-minute video, and bring them up to date as your idea grows.
4. Learn the two existing solutions well: what they do, what they cost, and what yours does better.
5. Open the programme's home page, opens in a new tab at the start of each month. When it shows a new call that names your state, start at Stage 1 of this guide.