MTN Nigeria has announced 20 innovative startups as the first cohort of the Cloud Accelerator Program. This was announced at its headquarters in Falomo, Ikoyi.
The 12-week hybrid accelerator, backed by ₦100 million in grants, brings together some of Africa’s most promising startups across fintech, healthtech, agritech, edtech, and cleantech. These startups have demonstrated exceptional potential to scale across the continent by leveraging MTN’s infrastructure, APIs, and strategic partnerships.
Speaking at the announcement, Lynda Saint-Nwafor, Chief Enterprise Business Officer at MTN Nigeria, said: “Today is not just another launch. It is the beginning of a bold new chapter in Africa’s digital transformation story. It all began with a dream: to build a world-class data centre and launch MTN Cloud, a solution designed to deliver on world-class capabilities without the usual barriers. Building on that momentum, we made a promise: to create an Accelerator Program that would empower African startups to scale, thrive, and lead globally. And today, we have delivered.
For too long, our continent has been described as ‘emerging.’ But what we see are markets already bursting with innovation, resilience, and grit. What African entrepreneurs lack is not ideas, but the right environment, partners, and tools to scale globally. And that is exactly what this program provides.”
Among the Accelerator Program startups are DoktorConnect, led by Joseph Olowe, shifting healthcare from reactive to preventive using FDA-certified IoT devices; and MYITURA, founded by Shina Arogundade, which is building integrated digital health ecosystems across Africa. In fintech, Regxta, led by Bello Rukayat, is targeting 600 million underserved Africans through AI-powered digital banking, while Creditchek, (Kingsley Ibe), is developing machine learning tools for credit assessment and fraud prevention.
In the sustainability space, Trashcoin Limited, founded by Olamide Phebe Ilesanmi, is digitising recycling through Africa’s first eco-fintech platform, while Scrapays Inc., led by Boluwatife Arewa, is building decentralised recycling infrastructure that has already reached over 36,700 households. In agritech, Agrovesto, under Bayo Adewoye, is improving farmer incomes by 30–60% for over 20,000 farmers, and XChangeBOX, led by Abiola Jimoh, is driving excellence in agro-commodity trading and exports.
The MTN Cloud Accelerator offers a robust support system, deep integration with MTN’s APIs and cloud infrastructure, access to Africa’s largest telecom network, one-on-one mentorship from industry leaders, go-to-market support, and investor pitch opportunities. The programme runs from September 6 to December 6, 2025, and will culminate in a showcase event where the startups will pitch to potential investors and partners.
This initiative reaffirms the technology company’s commitment to fostering digital solutions for Africa’s progress.
