MTN and Airtel are teaming up to change how Nigerian startups access cloud and AI services by investing nearly $400 million (₦613.81 billion) to offer affordable, local options priced in naira.
The two telecom giants want to challenge global leaders like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, which currently dominate the market. Their strategy focuses on pricing cloud services in naira, not just billing in naira, promising better affordability, faster local compute power, and data sovereignty.
MTN has already invested $120 million and plans to put in another $135 million. The company is building a Tier 4 data centre designed to support startups and businesses looking to digitalise operations.
Our cloud is crafted for Nigerian startups, enterprises, and public institutions – Ifeanyi Otudor, senior consultant at MTN Enterprise Solutions.
MTN also runs an accelerator programme with grants up to ₦100 million to support startups.
Airtel’s focus, meanwhile, is on AI infrastructure. The telco broke ground in 2024 on Nigeria’s first hyperscale data centre in Eko Atlantic. It’s being built to handle massive AI workloads using high-performance GPUs, a critical resource for startups working with artificial intelligence. Airtel’s director of business, Ogo Ofomata, emphasized
We are building at a hyperscale level, designed for the new server loads that modern infrastructure demands
Since the naira’s sharp devaluation in 2023, many startups have struggled with soaring costs linked to dollar-priced cloud services. By offering cloud priced competitively in naira and keeping data local, MTN and Airtel hope to keep millions of dollars of tech spending within Nigeria.
Startups are cautiously optimistic. Aaron Sotunde-Adesina, CEO of AI startup Quonos, pointed out the challenge ahead:
If it is cheap and works, people will adopt it. If it doesn’t work or isn’t reliable, it will be a big struggle.
Many local providers have struggled with reliability compared to global giants. Despite these hurdles, the Nigerian government supports efforts to build sovereign cloud infrastructure. Kashifu Inuwa, director general of NITDA, noted at MTN Cloud’s launch that local cloud services are given the opportunity to show the world we are ready to build sovereign cloud infrastructure.
The move by MTN and Airtel is vital because cloud and AI services could add billions to Nigeria’s economy. According to Oxford Insights, AI alone could boost Nigeria’s GDP by $15 billion by 2030, but this depends on affordable, modern data centres.
