GeoPredict AI has emerged winner of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) maiden Technology Innovation Challenge (TIC) 2026, earning a N25 million prize for its artificial intelligence-driven solution for reservoir characterisation and drilling decisions.
The startup received the award at the final competition and ceremony held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, after its innovation was adjudged to have strong potential to address critical challenges in the oil and gas industry and advance indigenous technology development.
FrassPlus came second and received N15 million for its hydrocarbon bioremediation solution, while MAR Thermal SIM placed third with N10 million for its offshore corrosion assessment technology.
The Technology Innovation Challenge was introduced by NCDMB as a strategic intervention to bridge the gap between research and commercialisation and provide Nigerian innovators with a platform to develop technology-driven solutions for challenges across the oil and gas value chain.
The initiative, promoted by the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre (EIC) Limited, focused on areas including drilling, pipeline maintenance, produced water management and subsea operations.
Participants underwent mentorship, coaching and a physical bootcamp designed to refine their ideas, strengthen their pitching capabilities and prepare their solutions for potential industry deployment.
The Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, represented by the Director, Corporate Services, Dr. Abdulmalik Halilu, described TIC as more than a competition, saying it was designed to move innovation from the laboratory into industrial application.
Ogbe said the programme was also aimed at ensuring that Nigerian Content moved beyond service delivery to high-end and sustainable technological ownership, with technologies required to power the oil and gas industry increasingly designed, developed and deployed by Nigerians.
He called on operators and industry stakeholders, including the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) and Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), to create opportunities for field trials, technology validation and early adoption of the innovations.
“We need research that is born from the specific, tangible problems in drilling, pipeline maintenance, produced water management, subsea operations, and other critical areas of the industry,” he said, urging researchers to shift their focus from academic application to solving practical industry problems.
Ogbe also reaffirmed NCDMB’s commitment to supporting innovators beyond the competition, noting that access to capital remained critical to technology commercialisation. He cited the Board’s strategic funding models, human capacity development and business incubation initiatives as mechanisms for moving validated innovations from pilot stages to market deployment.
Earlier, the Director, Planning, Research and Statistics of NCDMB, Mr. Silas Omamehin Ajimijaye, said achieving the Board’s Nigerian Content objectives required deliberate efforts to convert research into industry-ready solutions.
He said the initiative would introduce new indigenous technological solutions to the oil and gas sector, stressing that achieving the Board’s 70 per cent Nigerian Content target by 2027 would require research outputs to be converted into commercial products and services.
The Director of Innovation, Research and Development at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Warri, Dr. Tina Olubokola Isichei, commended NCDMB for the initiative, saying programmes such as TIC could strengthen Nigeria’s position on the global innovation landscape.
Isichei noted that Nigeria’s 105th position out of 139 economies in the 2025 Global Innovation Index underscored the need to move research and innovation beyond ideas into industry-ready solutions.
She assured the innovators that PTI was prepared to support testing, validation and other technical processes required to prepare their technologies for industry deployment.
Representing the leadership of OPTS, Engr. Oluyoye Adebowale described TIC as a demonstration of Nigeria’s capacity to develop local solutions to industry challenges, while the Chairman of PETAN, Engr. Wole Ogunsanya, represented by Dr. John Faluyi, called for stronger structures to translate Nigeria’s research capacity and engineering talent into certified and commercially viable technologies.
The stakeholders urged sustained collaboration among innovators, operators, regulators, research institutions and investors to facilitate testing, certification, pilot deployment, local manufacturing, job creation and eventual export of Nigerian technologies.
According to the Chairperson of the judging panel, Dr. Ibilola Amao, principal consultant at Lonadek Global Services, the winners were selected based on criteria including alignment with Nigerian Content objectives, commercialisation readiness, potential industry impact, scalability and the ability of the solutions to demonstrate Nigeria’s technological capabilities.
The other finalists included BMV-6 Medical Ventilator, MaxFox AeroShield and Metallocene Organic Rechargeable Battery.
NCDMB said the initiative formed part of its broader effort to transition the oil and gas industry from a compliance-driven “Nigeria First” approach to a performance-driven “Nigeria Preferred” mindset, where indigenous technologies are selected based on quality, efficiency, reliability and value.
The Board said the conclusion of TIC 2026 marked the beginning of the innovators’ next phase, with emphasis now shifting to technology validation, industry linkages, commercialisation and deployment of promising Nigerian solutions across the oil and gas value chain.
