Dala Studio partners Nigerian varsity to scale AI entrepreneurship

Gebeya Inc., the pan-African technology company behind Dala Studio, has entered Nigeria’s higher education market through a partnership with Miva Open University aimed at equipping 25,000 students with artificial intelligence tools to build digital businesses.

The agreement will give all Miva students access to Dala Studio’s AI-powered creation platform, enabling them to develop applications, websites, games and automated agents without coding, as part of a broader push to align university education with the demands of a rapidly evolving digital economy.

The move comes as policymakers and educators across Africa grapple with a widening gap between academic instruction and the practical skills required for employment and entrepreneurship. While university enrolment has expanded, many graduates lack the technical and commercial capabilities needed to translate ideas into income-generating ventures.

Chief Executive Officer of Gebeya, Amadou Daffe, said the partnership would put an entire startup engine in the hands of Nigerian students, enabling them to launch businesses without requiring technical expertise or external funding.

“A student does not need a team, funding, or technical background,” Daffe said in a statement. “They can go from idea to a working business using one platform.”

The initiative also includes a structured ambassador programme that will see selected students lead workshops and promote adoption across campuses, a model designed to extend the platform’s reach beyond formal coursework.

The partnership underscores a broader trend in African higher education, where institutions are increasingly turning to private-sector technology providers to bridge skills gaps and improve graduate employability. Analysts say such collaborations could become a template for scaling digital skills development across the continent, particularly as artificial intelligence reshapes how products are built and businesses operate.

Senior Manager for Projects and Partnerships at Miva Open University, Graham Ekoh, said the collaboration was designed to shift students from theoretical learning to hands-on creation.

“This partnership gives our students more than access; it gives them the ability to build,” Ekoh said. “A student can move from idea to product and from product to income all within one platform.”

Dala Studio, developed by Gebeya, is positioned as an all-in-one “creator engine” that allows users to build and monetise digital products using natural language prompts. The platform supports local languages and integrates with African payment systems, features the company says are intended to lower barriers to entry for first-time entrepreneurs.

For Gebeya, the deal marks a strategic expansion into the education sector, positioning Dala Studio not only as a creative tool but also as infrastructure for training a new generation of digital entrepreneurs. For Miva, it reflects a growing emphasis on flexible, skills-orientated learning aimed at preparing students for participation in Africa’s digital economy.