Launching in Nigeria, Huawei Cloud has initiated a groundbreaking program, earmarking $10 million in cloud credits to back 100 Nigerian startups over the next two years. The announcement was made during the Huawei Cloud Startup Summit in Lagos on April 3, 2024, uniting over 150 industry startups, venture capitalists, and partners to explore startup innovation and digital transformation. This endeavor aspires to ignite innovation and propel growth by granting startups access to cutting-edge cloud resources while cultivating a nurturing ecosystem.
In his keynote address, Hugo Hu, Director of Huawei Cloud, urged Nigerian startups to collaborate in shaping the nation’s digital economy’s future. Highlighting the hurdles encountered by startups, including technology, funding, data security, and compliance, Hu stressed the pivotal role of cloud adoption in hastening innovation.
Huawei Cloud is dedicated to furnishing an ecological platform for Nigerian startups, facilitating their access to cost-effective cloud resources and accelerating their pursuit of business opportunities,” Hu affirmed.
Empowering Nigerian Startups: Huawei Cloud’s Comprehensive Support Program
Through this program, Huawei Cloud will furnish cloud-native infrastructure, professional services, and up to $150,000 in cloud credits to each participating startup. This investment aims to slash cloud service costs by 40 percent for Nigerian startups and connect them with potential clients and investors across 177 countries.
Dotun Adekunle, Senior Vice President of Flutterwave, underscored the importance of cloud services in empowering companies to compete globally.
“We wouldn’t operate Flutterwave efficiently without cloud services,” Adekunle remarked.
By 2025, Huawei Cloud targets onboarding 10,000 startups globally, with over 3,000 already benefiting from the platform, including several from Africa.
Paul Adigu, Ecosystem Director of Huawei Cloud Nigeria, outlined three pivotal initiatives underpinning the startup program’s objectives: an advanced cloud platform, startup talent development, and provisioning of business resources.
Huawei Cloud endeavors to establish a cloud foundation for an intelligent world, with plans to unveil a local cloud in Nigeria by 2024 and having already set up 88 Availability Zones in 30 regions worldwide.
