MTN Nigeria has unveiled solutions from 20 early-stage startups, the first cohort of its 12-week Cloud Accelerator programme, during a Demo Day and Investors Mixer held on Monday in Lagos.
Ms. Linda Saint-Nwafor, Chief Enterprise Business Officer at MTN Nigeria, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to boosting Africa’s digital economy through locally anchored infrastructure, mentorship, and N100 million funding for the startups.
She disclosed that about 8,000 startups applied for the programme, with 20 making it to the finals. Each of the selected startups received N5 million to develop solutions “powered locally and scaled globally.”
“For us at MTN, the Cloud Accelerator is not a ceremonial initiative. It is a deliberate investment in Africa’s digital future,” Saint-Nwafor said, emphasizing the programme’s role in providing tools, mentorship, and funding to enable startups to scale.
Startups also gained access to MTN’s cloud infrastructure and payment platforms, including APIs, USSD, and SMS capabilities, shortening development cycles and improving scalability.
Ayham Moussa, MTN Nigeria executive and former CEO of MTN Congo Brazzaville, welcomed attendees, highlighting the programme’s core focus on locally anchored infrastructure, expert-led mentorship, and expansion funding. He urged founders to “build fast, build clean, design for resilience, and leverage local infrastructure with global standards.”
Njideka Jack, General Manager, Enterprise Marketing, praised the inaugural cohort, stating that the programme was turning potential into tangible results. “Those who can build should build, and those who can invest should invest,” she said.
On behalf of the cohort, Dr. Joseph Olowe of DoktorConnect expressed gratitude to MTN for providing a transformative platform. He noted the mentorship and guidance had helped startups navigate business challenges and prepare for global scaling.
The 12-week hybrid programme featured startups across healthtech, fintech, sustainability, and agritech. Notable participants included:
- DoktorConnect (Joseph Olowe) – shifting healthcare from reactive to preventive using FDA-certified IoT devices.
- MYITURA (Shina Arogundade) – building integrated digital health ecosystems across Africa.
- Regxta (Bello Rukayat) – providing AI-powered digital banking for 600 million underserved Africans.
- Creditchek (Kingsley Ibe) – developing machine learning tools for credit assessment and fraud prevention.
- Trashcoin Ltd (Olamide Ilesanmi) – digitizing recycling through Africa’s first eco-fintech platform.
- Scrapays Inc. (Boluwatife Arewa) – building decentralized recycling infrastructure reaching over 36,700 households.
- Agrovesto (Bayo Adewoye) – improving farmer incomes by 30–60% for over 20,000 farmers.
- XChangeBOX (Abiola Jimoh) – advancing excellence in agro-commodity trading and exports.
The programme’s focus on mentorship, funding, and access to MTN’s digital infrastructure aims to equip African startups to develop scalable solutions and drive innovation across the continent.
