MTN Nigeria has unveiled solutions from 20 early-stage startups, the first cohort of its 12-week Cloud Accelerators programme in Lagos.

The MTN Cloud Accelerator Demo Day and Investors Mixer was held on Monday.

Linda Saint-Nwafor, the chief enterprise business officer at MTN Nigeria, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to boosting Africa’s digital economy through locally anchored infrastructure, mentorship, and N100m in funding for startups.

She disclosed that about 8000 early-stage startups applied for the first cohort of the MTN Cloud Accelerator, of which 20 made it to the finals, and had completed the 12-week programme.

Ms Saint-Nwafor said that the company had committed N100 million in funding to the programme, out of which each startup received N5 million to produce solutions which would be “powered locally and scaled globally”.

Ms Saint-Nwafor said the funding was specifically structured to support the startups and address practical issues such as infrastructure gaps and market access.

“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.

The MTN executive said that the vision behind the MTN Cloud Accelerator Programme had always been clear: to equip African founders with the tools, mentorship and funding they need to scale.

According to her, the impact came not just from the capital but also from the robust ecosystem built around the programme.

‘’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,” Ms Saint-Nwafor explained.

The former CEO at MTN Congo Brazzaville and current MTN Nigeria executive, Ayham Moussa, formally welcomed attendees, highlighting the programme’s core philosophy.

Mr Moussa said that the MTN Cloud Accelerator was built not as a serial programme but as a real engine for scale.

He listed the programme’s triple focus: providing locally anchored infrastructure, offering hands-on expert-led mentorship, and delivering funding for expansion.

Mr Moussa urged the founders to build fast, build clean, design for resilience from day one, and to leverage local infrastructure delivered with global standards.

(NAN)