Zoho has reported 75% growth in Nigeria and released a landmark study on responsible AI adoption.
NaijaOnPoint Nigeria reports that global technology company Zoho has announced a 75% growth in its Nigerian customer base in 2024, underscoring the country’s rising appetite for scalable digital solutions.
At its annual user conference, Zoholics Nigeria, held in Lagos, the company also unveiled a groundbreaking study showing that Nigerian businesses are setting global benchmarks in responsible AI adoption and privacy protection.
The research, titled “The AI Privacy Equation: The Nigerian Model of Responsible AI Adoption,” was conducted by Arion Research on behalf of Zoho. Findings reveal that 93% of Nigerian organisations have already begun integrating artificial intelligence, with more than half moving beyond pilot projects into operational deployment.
Significantly, 84% of businesses reported strengthening privacy measures since implementing AI, while 94% now have dedicated privacy officers or teams, well above global averages. Nearly 40% of organisations also allocate over 30% of their IT budgets to privacy, framing governance as a competitive advantage rather than a constraint.
“Nigerian businesses are leading the way in embedding AI responsibly, tempering innovation with robust privacy safeguards,” said Kehinde Ogundare, Country Head, Zoho Nigeria. “This reflects Zoho’s philosophy of building contextual, privacy-first AI models that deliver tangible business value.”
The study highlights the financial sector as a pioneer, with 29% of respondents citing use cases such as customer service automation (49%), software development (46%), and marketing optimisation (32%) all deployed with privacy-by-design principles.
However, barriers remain. 37% of businesses identified lack of technical expertise as their biggest challenge, while 35% pointed to privacy and security concerns. To bridge these gaps, companies are investing in AI upskilling, with 69% focusing on data analysis, 53% on AI literacy, and 40% on prompt engineering for generative AI tools.
Regulatory awareness is also on the rise, with nearly two-thirds of businesses reporting stronger compliance efforts since the passage of Nigeria’s Data Protection Act. Practices such as regular privacy audits (57%), data minimisation (57%), and AI explainability (52%) are increasingly becoming the norm.
Michael Fauscette, CEO and Chief Analyst at Arion Research, noted:
“The Nigerian model challenges the belief that AI adoption requires privacy trade-offs. Instead, it shows how privacy-conscious design can enhance AI outcomes and strengthen customer trust.”
Zoho’s growth in Nigeria is being powered by demand for its flagship products, including Zoho Workplace (collaboration suite), Books (accounting software), Campaigns (email and SMS marketing), and Zoho One (an all-in-one suite of over 55 applications).
Key growth sectors include financial services, IT hardware and services, energy, real estate, manufacturing, education, and retail.
With Nigeria emerging as one of Zoho’s fastest-growing markets in Africa, the company says it will continue to invest in AI-driven, privacy-first solutions tailored to local business needs.