Huawei has taken a significant step in expanding its presence in Africa by launching a local cloud service in Nigeria on Tuesday, December 10.
This initiative aims to enhance the country’s digital infrastructure and support local businesses, particularly startups and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
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Enhancing data sovereignty and performance
The newly unveiled cloud service is designed to ensure data sovereignty, meaning that sensitive data will remain within Nigeria’s borders, aligning with the country’s data protection regulations.
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Chris Lu, CEO of Huawei Nigeria, emphasised the importance of this local service, stating, “We can provide much better services and much better latency to our customers in Nigeria. We are committed to accelerating the prosperity of Nigeria.”
This commitment is crucial as it allows Nigerian businesses to access cloud resources with reduced latency, improving their operational efficiency and competitiveness.
The local cloud service will operate with a tier 3+ uptime standard and a 99.99 percent intensity rate, ensuring user reliability.
David Olaiya, Head of Cloud Fintech Business Development at Huawei Nigeria, highlighted that this initiative addresses compliance challenges many businesses face when relying on foreign cloud services.
“This initiative comes in response to the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), which mandates that Nigerian user data must be stored within the country”.
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Supporting local innovation and growth
Huawei’s investment in Nigeria goes beyond just infrastructure; it aims to foster innovation within the local tech ecosystem.
Earlier in 2024, Huawei announced plans to support 100 Nigerian startups over the next two years by providing up to $150,000 in credits for cloud infrastructure and professional services.
This initiative is expected to empower entrepreneurs and drive growth in sectors such as fintech and e-commerce.
The launch of the local cloud service aligns with Nigeria’s broader digital transformation goals. As Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director-General of NITDA, noted during the launch event, “Nigeria has huge potential for cloud infrastructure, thus giving the country a boost for cloud infrastructure investment.”
This sentiment reflects the growing recognition of Nigeria as a tech hub in West Africa.
Huawei’s new cloud site will also be integrated into its extensive global network, which includes 93 availability zones across 33 regions worldwide. This integration promises additional benefits for Nigerian businesses by providing access to global resources while maintaining local support.