MTN Nigeria has unveiled solutions developed by 20 early-stage startups, marking the close of the first cohort of its 12-week Cloud Accelerator programme held in Lagos on Monday. The event, tagged MTN Cloud Accelerator Demo Day and Investors Mixer, showcased innovations built through mentorship, local cloud infrastructure access and direct funding support.
Linda Saint-Nwafor, chief enterprise business officer at MTN Nigeria, reaffirmed that the initiative was created to strengthen Africa’s digital economy by backing homegrown ideas. She disclosed that about 8000 early-stage startups applied for the first cohort, but only 20 made it to the finals and completed the 12-week programme. She noted that MTN had committed N100 million in funding to support the cohort.
Ms Saint-Nwafor explained that each of the 20 finalists received N5 million to build solutions that would be “powered locally and scaled globally.” According to her, this funding was structured to help startups solve practical challenges including market access and infrastructure limits. “For us at MTN, the Cloud Accelerator is not a ceremonial initiative. It is a deliberate investment in Africa’s digital future and an insistence on a future where African solutions are ‘powered locally, scaled globally’,” she stated.
She said the vision behind the programme was clear from inception: to equip African founders with tools, mentorship and financial backing to grow. She added that its impact extended beyond capital, because a strong ecosystem was built around the startups. “Startups were granted access to MTN cloud infrastructure described as local, reliable, and predictable. They were also integrated into MTN’s payment collection platforms, leveraging APIs, USSD, and SMS capabilities to shorten development cycles,” she explained.
Former MTN Congo Brazzaville CEO and current MTN Nigeria executive, Ayham Moussa, formally welcomed attendees and highlighted the philosophy behind the accelerator. Mr Moussa said the MTN Cloud Accelerator was designed as a true engine for scale rather than a serial programme without depth. He listed its three main pillars as locally anchored infrastructure, hands-on expert mentorship and funding for expansion.
Mr Moussa encouraged the founders to build fast, prioritise clean execution and design for resilience from day one. He urged them to fully leverage local infrastructure provided under global standards as they push their solutions into the market.
