Huawei unveils Nigeria’s first hyperscale local cloud

Huawei, a global technology company, has unveiled Nigeria’s first hyperscale local cloud, making it the first international cloud provider to offer such services in the country.

The new local cloud, powered by Tier 3+ data centres, provides ultra-fast services with a latency of just 15 milliseconds.

This ensures that data storage and computing resources remain within Nigeria, benefiting local businesses and sectors, particularly fintech companies that require strict adherence to data protection laws.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Huawei announced the launch event, themed “Leap Now With A Better Cloud,” which took place in Lagos State on Tuesday.

During the event, the CEO of Huawei Nigeria, Chris Lu, emphasised the company’s dedication to supporting Nigeria’s digital economy.

Lu noted that the initiative was a significant milestone towards meeting the country’s data protection regulation, and alignment with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission’s objectives to limit cross-border data transfer and have data kept within the country.

“With disruptive technology, we can transform our daily lives, our industries, and our economy. Not knowing where your data is stored is terrifying.

“The Huawei local cloud ensures your data and that of your customers are safely protected. Our local cloud provides better latency, better services, and ensures data sovereignty for our customers,” he said.

On his part, the Vice President of Huawei Cloud Sub-Saharan Africa, Roc Bai, introduced Huawei Cloud’s latest technologies, including Huawei Cloud Stack 8.5, cloud-native databases, and large AI models, saying, “We believe local cloud is the best architecture for digital transformation today. Enterprises need innovative solutions to address the challenges of industry transformation.”

Applauding the initiative, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, described it as a transformative achievement for Nigeria.

“Lagos State has been working with Huawei for a while, and today’s event reaches its zenith with the launch of the Huawei Local Cloud. This marks a significant milestone for Nigeria in our journey towards technological advancement.

“The introduction of a local cloud by Huawei is a huge deal because it will help businesses and enhance data sovereignty. I encourage everyone to embrace these ideas, as they set a transformative course for Lagos, Nigeria, and Africa at large,” he said.

The Managing Director of Huawei Cloud Nigeria, Hugo Hu, emphasized the importance of nurturing the local ecosystem.

He highlighted Huawei Cloud’s commitment to bringing its global ecosystem and digital expertise to Nigeria, empowering local customers and partners to innovate and expand internationally.

He also announced the unveiling of the three-action plan: facilitating cloud adoption for 1,000 customers, supporting 100 partners in their growth, and enabling 5,000 developers with access to Huawei’s open resources.

Touching on the cultivation of a thriving local ecosystem and training talent, Huawei has contributed to talent training over the past 25 years.

The company, according to the statement, has built two training centres in Lagos and Abuja, and cooperated with 137 universities to build ICT Academy where over 70,000 talents receive trainings in different areas of ICT.

“Earlier in the year, Huawei Cloud launched its startup programme for Nigeria where it announced a total of $10 million to support 100 start-ups for the next two years.

“Each startup stands to benefit a credit worth $150,000. The investment hoped to prioritise advancement of cloud platforms, talent development, as well as the sharing of business resources for many startups,” the statement added.