Huawei Cloud has initiated a program in Nigeria with a commitment to invest $10 million in providing cloud credits for 100 Nigerian startups over the subsequent two years. Huawei announced this initiative at the Huawei Cloud Startup Summit that took place in Lagos on April 3, 2024.
The event witnessed attendance from over 150 startups from various industries, venture capitalists, and partners who convened to deliberate on innovation in startups and digital transformation. The objective of this program is to power innovation and foster growth by equipping startups with access to cutting-edge cloud resources while creating a conducive support environment.
During his keynote speech, Hugo Hu, the Director of Huawei Cloud, invited Nigerian startups to jointly innovate and lay the groundwork for the future of Nigeria’s digital economy. He pointed out the challenges startups usually encounter, which include access to cutting-edge technology, funding, potential data security breaches, and compliance with regulations. Hu emphasized that adopting cloud technology is central to expediting innovation in the startup industry.
Hugo Hu, Director of Huawei Cloud, expressed his company’s commitment to creating an ecological platform for Nigerian startups. Huawei aims to facilitate these startups’ easy access to cost-effective cloud resources and accelerate their route to seizing business opportunities. Hu strongly advocated that Huawei Cloud is indeed a better choice for Nigerian startups based on these provisions.
Huawei Cloud’s startup program will offer cloud-native infrastructure, professional services, and cloud credits worth up to $150,000 to each startup participating in the program. The goal of this significant investment is to cut the cost of cloud services for Nigerian startups by 40 percent while exposing them to prospective clients and investors from 177 countries worldwide.
Dotun Adekunle, the Senior Vice President of Flutterwave, underscored the critical role of cloud services in empowering businesses to compete in the global arena. He emphasized the key role of cloud services in the company’s smooth operations, stating, “We wouldn’t run Flutterwave efficiently without being on the cloud.”
Huawei Cloud has set a goal to incorporate 10,000 startups worldwide by 2025. The platform has already had successful engagements with over 3,000 startups, with several of these startups originating from the African continent.
To achieve the objectives of the startup program, Paul Adigu, the Ecosystem Director of Huawei Cloud Nigeria, elaborated that the program will leverage three key initiatives. These will include the provision of an advanced cloud platform for the startups to operate and innovate, the development of startup talent, and the allocation of business resources to support the startups’ growth and operations.
Huawei Cloud is driven towards creating a cloud foundation for a smart world. With the intention of launching a local cloud in Nigeria in 2024, it is steadily working towards this futuristic vision. As a part of its growth strategy, Huawei Cloud has already made significant strides in global cloud availability. It has established 88 Availability Zones which are located in 30 different regions worldwide, thereby ensuring extensive and encompassing reach for its services.
