Nigeria’s two largest telecom operators, MTN and Airtel, are making an ambitious push beyond voice and data into cloud and AI services, with nearly $400 million in new investments. Their goal: to capture a bigger slice of Nigeria’s fast-growing cloud market and stop billions of naira from flowing to overseas providers.
Taking on the Global Giants
Today, Nigerian startups and enterprises spend an estimated $600–$850 million annually on cloud services, but the bulk of that money goes to AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. For local firms billed in dollars, cloud costs have soared as the naira slid from ₦471/$ in 2023 to ₦1,534/$ in August 2025.
MTN and Airtel see opportunity in that pain point. By pricing in naira, cutting rates by up to 20%, and offering AI-grade computing power, the telcos hope to win over startups that need affordability, reliability, and local hosting.
The Infrastructure Play
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MTN has already spent $120 million on cloud infrastructure, including a Tier 4 data centre, with another $135 million planned. Its pitch: reduced latency, stronger data sovereignty, and cheaper rates than foreign rivals.
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Airtel is investing $120 million to build Nigeria’s first hyperscale data centre equipped with high-performance GPUs designed for AI workloads.
Both telcos also plan to roll out accelerator programmes to attract startups and drive adoption.
Competition on All Fronts
The challenge, however, is formidable. Global players are pouring $180 billion into hyperscale capacity in 2025 alone, dwarfing the telcos’ spend. Local providers like Nobus Cloud and Layer3 are also carving out niches. For Nigerian startups, the decision will come down to one word: trust. Reliability, performance, developer experience, and incentives will determine whether they stay with the giants or bet on homegrown infrastructure.
A Market on the Rise
Nigeria’s cloud market is projected to grow from $1.03 billion in 2025 to $3.28 billion by 2030 (Mordor Intelligence). If MTN and Airtel can capture even a fraction of this growth, they could help anchor Nigeria’s digital sovereignty agenda, keeping more tech spending within its borders while powering the next wave of AI-driven innovation.
