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All Problems
82 problems found
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This list is here to inspire people who are looking for problems to solve. If you already have an idea that solves a real problem, you're more than welcome to work on it! And if you do want to tackle something from this list, that's great too!
Logistics Port Congestion
Over-reliance on Lagos ports (Apapa, Tin Can) creates a $19B annual economic loss from delays.
Graduate Skills-Market Mismatch
70% of employers can't fill roles as universities teach 'decade-ago' skills; need for job-ready training.
Fatal Gap in Flash Flood Early Warning Systems
Current systems fail to predict flash floods, leaving riverine communities vulnerable.
Artisanal Garment Industry Supply Chain Gap
Nigeria’s garment manufacturers face weak linkages to local textile producers, lacking a formal supply chain for fabrics and accessories.
SME & Commercial Cluster Off-Grid Power
40M+ SMEs rely on costly generators as grid power is <8 hours/day.
Urban Waste-to-Value Systems
Over 80% of daily solid waste goes unmanaged, causing flooding, pollution, and public health risks
Last-Mile Delivery Fragmentation
Urban and rural last-mile logistics lack structured systems, leading to high costs and failed deliveries.
Urban Drainage Infrastructure Failure
Inadequate and waste-blocked drainage systems result in chronic, destructive flooding in major cities.
Unsustainable Land Use and Deforestation
Rapid deforestation for agriculture and urban expansion degrades land and reduces carbon sinks.
Cold-Chain Logistics Gap
A near-total lack of a scalable cold chain causes 40-70% spoilage in fruits, vegetables and poultry.
High Post-Harvest Losses
Poor on-farm storage, handling, and inefficient milling lead to 30-50% losses in staple crops.
Low Smallholder Agri-Tech Adoption
Modern agricultural technologies remain underused by smallholders, limiting productivity and efficiency nationwide.
Inconsistent Product Quality Control
A lack of adherence to metrology and quality standards hinders 'Made in Nigeria' global competitiveness.
Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Proliferation
A high (13%+) prevalence of fake medicines in the supply chain poses a severe, systemic health risk.
Fragmented Patient Health Data
Patient records are non-existent or siloed, preventing data-driven healthcare and interoperability.
Unaffordable Housing Construction
Soaring cost of conventional building materials makes new housing unaffordable.
Misaligned Vocational Training (TVET)
Public vocational schools use outdated curricula, failing to supply skilled artisans for modern industry.
Out-of-School Children Crisis
Over 10.5 million primary-school-age children are not in formal schooling, requiring new learning models.
MSME Credit Gap
A massive N13 trillion ($236B) unmet credit demand exists for 40M MSMEs, with only 4% accessing loans.
Informal Economy Formalization Barrier
85-92% of businesses fear formalization due to bureaucracy and tax, locking them out of growth capital.
Affordable Urban Housing Deficit
A 28-million-unit housing deficit exists, as developers build unaffordable luxury, not mass-market units.
Pervasive Unaddressed Mental Trauma
Millions of children/adults suffer from unaddressed psychosocial distress.
Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Integrity
A 'disorganized' chain (broken by poor storage, insecurity, and transport gaps.) for 70% imported drugs leads to chronic stock-outs.
'Offline-First' Digital Health Records
EHR adoption is stalled by unreliable power/internet; need for offline-syncing systems.
Smallholder Farmer Credit & Risk Modeling
Only 6.5% of farmers access finance; lack of collateral & credit history blocks access.
Affordable Housing & Local Materials Tech
Northern states face a 60% housing shortfall, driven largely by reliance on imported construction materials.
Industrial Manufacturing Modernization
Outdated industrial machinery limits local value addition, leading to raw material exports and imported finished goods
Zoonotic Disease Surveillance & Control
Lassa fever outbreaks, driven by rodent-human interaction, highlight gaps in 'One Health' surveillance.
Cooking Fuel Crisis
Dependency on firewood drives conflict, deforestation, and 95,000 annual deaths from smoke.
Willingness-to-Pay for Sanitation
60% - 80% of urban households are willing to pay for improved waste services that are not available.
Last-Mile Vaccine Cold Chain Failure
Vaccines stop at LGA stores due to cold chain breakdown and no transport to rural clinics.
Rural Diagnostic Gap
Rural health workers (CHEWs) lack expert support for diagnosis, relying on basic phones.
Urban Solid Waste Management Gap
85% of households in major cities use open dumping or burning for waste.
Artisan Skill Standardization
The construction and artisan sector face severe shortages of certified skills
Precarious Farm Mechanization Gap
Nigeria's 0.03 hp/ha mechanization rate makes smallholder farming inefficient.
Telemedicine Adoption Failure due to Power/Connectivity Gaps
Telemedicine is non-viable in rural areas due to 'incessant power outages' & poor internet.
Low Adoption of the National Collateral Registry (NCR)
Low awareness and use of the NCR, which allows movable assets as collateral, stalls SME lending.
Rural Primary Healthcare Gaps
90% of Primary Health Centres in states like Ebonyi are ill-equipped and understaffed.
Post-Harvest Loss & Packaging Deficit
Lack of plastic crates leads to 40% tomato losses in transit from the North; crates cut this to 10%.
Agro-Industrial Zone Infrastructure
New Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (e.g., Kano) lack the reliable power & logistics.
Secure Logistics for High-Risk Zones
Aid and commercial operations are halted by insecurity and banditry; high demand for secure transport.
Rural Water Purification & Access
States in NW have the lowest water access; need for affordable and accessible purification and distribution solutions.
Informal Cross-Border Trade Risk
High-volume informal trade with Cameroon/Niger relies on high-risk cash and insecure transport.
Last-Mile Diagnostic Test Distribution
Weak surveillance & failed 'Last Mile Distribution' policies cause rural test kit shortages.
Climate-Driven Agricultural Decline
Desertification and soil degradation cripple farming, requiring climate-smart inputs.
Resilient Healthcare in Conflict Zones
Banditry forces clinic closures & driving health worker away; need for mobile clinics.
Rural Agent Banking Network Gap
47% financial exclusion rate (highest in Nigeria); >60% of rural areas lack any banking or mobile money agents
Sharia-Compliant FinTech Products
Financial exclusion is driven by conflict between 'interest-heavy' banking & Islamic principles.
Rural & Female Digital Literacy Gap
A 'huge disparity' in digital skills exists in the North, and is 'wider for women' in rural areas.
Commercial Goods Transportation Risk
Insecurity and poor roads create high costs and unreliability for commercial haulage to northern hubs.
Education for Displaced Children
5M+ children impacted by educational disruptions in the North; need for multilingual educational tech.
Fragmented Secure Warehousing
Over 120 agencies need shared, fortified storage in forward-operating hubs like Monguno and Ngala.
Pay-as-you-Go Solar Payment Infrastructure Gap
Low access to financial services and mobile connectivity stalls PAYG solar business models.
IDP 'Proof of Address' Financial Barrier
29% of IDPs are financially excluded; banks require 'proof of address' IDPs cannot provide.
Humanitarian CVA Payment Inefficiency
Agencies need reliable, low-cost Financial Service Providers to deliver cash aid in remote LGAs.
IDP Digital Finance Adoption Barrier
Despite high phone ownership (91% of IDPs), DFS adoption is stalled by mistrust and fees.
Hazardous Artisanal Mining Practices
Widespread mercury use in ASM contaminates water and poisons communities.
Widening Female Financial Exclusion
Exclusion is driven by deep gaps in income, education, and trust in FSPs.
'Affordable' Housing Unaffordability
New satellite town estates remain financially out of reach for young professionals.
IDP Camp Sanitation Failure
Overcrowded, long-term IDP camps face collapsing sanitation, driving repeated cholera outbreaks.
Unsafe Public Transport in FCT Periphery
Pervasive 'one-chance' criminal attacks create acute passenger safety and trust gaps.
Legacy Tin Mining Pollution
Decades of tin mining left 'spoil tips' and contaminated water, ruining farmland.
Mineral Logistics Bottleneck
New domestic processing plants [31] lack a formal logistics network to source ore from ASM sites.
Dormant Inland Waterway Logistics
Regulatory conflicts have stalled private investment in river transport at Kogi's hub.
Mobile Cassava Processing-as-a-Service
Ogun's cassava farmers lose value to manual processing; need for modular/mobile units.
Hazardous Informal E-Waste Processing and Value-Loss
500k tons of e-waste are processed informally using hazardous methods, losing recoverable value.
High-Cost, Low-Quality Aquaculture Feed Supply Chain
A $1.2B fish import gap driven by high-cost (75% of costs) and poor-quality local fish feed.
Mobile Healthcare Delivery Gap for Riverine Communities
Geographic isolation of riverine communities prevents access to primary healthcare, causing death.
Decentralized Peri-Urban Water Utilities
Peri-urban zones in Enugu/Awka lack formal water supply, creating reliance on costly, unsafe vendors.
Severe Gully Erosion
Gully causes significant land degradation, leading to loss of soil productivity and damage to infrastructure.
Obsolete Smallholder Palm Oil Milling Technology
Inefficient and obsolete milling equipment leads to low oil recovery rates and industry decline.
Genetic-Decline and Scarcity of High-Quality Catfish Fingerlings
Poor broodstock management and hatchery systems have led to genetic decline in catfish.
Waste Management Crisis
Inadequate waste collection and disposal systems leading to environmental health hazards.
Housing Shortage
Acute shortage of affordable housing leading to overcrowding and development of slums.
Artisanal Refining Pollution
Illegal oil refining activities causing severe air and water pollution in riverine communities.
Water Scarcity
Inadequate access to clean water supply affecting residents and small businesses.
Unplanned Urban Settlements
Rapid growth of unplanned settlements lacking basic infrastructure and services.
Bad Road Networks
Deteriorating road infrastructure affecting transportation and commerce.
Market Congestion and Poor Infrastructure
Overcrowded markets with poor sanitation and limited parking facilities.
Lack of Modern Healthcare Facilities
Absence of well-equipped primary healthcare centers in the local government.
Poor Education Infrastructure
Dilapidated school buildings and shortage of qualified teachers.
Lack of Electricity in Rural Communities
Many rural communities without access to electricity grid.
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