• Kano ECoN launch by First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Thursday 23,2026.

The federal government has launched the Energise Commercialisation Now (ECoN) an initiative of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.

Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, launched the programme in Kano, yesterday, and calling for a shift from ideas to industrial productivity.

The First Lady said that Nigeria must move beyond generating ideas to building industries that create jobs and drive economic growth.

She noted that although innovative concepts continue to emerge from universities, technology hubs and young entrepreneurs, many do not translate into real-world solutions.

“This initiative represents a decisive effort to close that gap by creating an environment where ideas can grow, attract support and scale into real solutions,” she said.

The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr. Kingsley Tochukwu-Udeh, described ECoN as a national framework designed to bridge the gap between research and the marketplace.

He said that the initiative aims to transform research outputs into revenue-generating ventures while promoting inclusive economic growth.

Barr Dele Oye, the former president of NACCIMA, at the Vanguard Economic Discourse 2026 edition in Lagos on Wednesday, advised the federal government to limit its role to policy support and facilitation rather than involvement in commercial business activities.

Oye, now the Chairman of Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics (AERE) , cited past failures such as the Ajaokuta Steel Company and refineries rehabilitation projects.

He said: ” We all know the failed history of government being involved in business. Ajaokuta… they have blown $8 billion and have not produced one steel; they blew $3 billion on refineries rehabilitation… and nothing happened. We are not having any fuel from them.”

Oye maintained that government lacks the capacity to run businesses effectively.

” You have no track record in running any business… you cannot be government and also be private sector,” he said.

• John Ternus / CNBC / Getty Images

Tim Cook’s 15-year tenure as Apple CEO comes to an end on Sept. 1, the company announced on Monday.

John Ternus, Apple’s longtime hardware boss, is taking over as CEO, becoming just the second leader since Steve Jobs departed in 2011, less than two months before he died from cancer.

CNBC reports that as Cook exits, Apple faces numerous challenges, including an intricate supply chain that’s complicated by geopolitical tensions and soaring prices for memory due to unprecedented demand from the AI buildout.

But for Ternus, perhaps the most critical aspect of his new job will be pushing the company deeper into AI, where it’s lagged many of its megacap peers.

It said that so far, Apple’s AI strategy has involved avoiding hefty capital expenditures while Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Metacommit to hundreds of billions of dollars a year in combined capex to fund new data centers and fill them with pricey AI chips.