Huawei announced its plans to launch its first data center in Nigeria. During his keynote address at Nigeria Fintech Week, David Olaiya, Head of Cloud Business for Huawei Nigeria, announced the launch of a new local data center in Nigeria, set to go live on October 31st. This initiative, Olaiya says, aims to enhance data sovereignty, compliance, and availability for fintech customers across the region.

Olaiya emphasized Huawei’s commitment to maintaining leadership in the digital space while adhering to the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and PCI DSS compliance standards.

Kang Ning, President of Huawei Cloud Global Ecosystem, previously stated “Huawei Cloud serves as a central hub for developers, providing access to essential resources like Kunpeng, Ascend, and HarmonyOS to foster innovation.” Currently, 7.6 million out of 11 million Huawei developers are part of the Huawei Cloud ecosystem, which has launched over 150,000 APIs and assembled a team of 1,600 advocates to support the growth of over 5 million individuals.

In March, Huawei introduced the Huawei Cloud Startup Program, offering $10 million in funding for 100 startups, along with 150,000 cloud vouchers to support innovation in the local tech ecosystem.

With the new data center, Huawei Cloud is positioned to become the first hyperscaler to establish a fully operational cloud infrastructure in Nigeria. The company claims to have thrived in, and contributed to Nigeria’s digital transformation for more than 24 years. Huawei Cloud aims to build a cloud foundation for an intelligent world leveraging the concept of “Everything as a Service”. 

The company’s cloud services are available in 170 countries, with 93 availability zones across 33 regions; however, it currently has only four availability zones and two regions in Africa: Turkey and Egypt. This expansion underscores Huawei’s commitment to fostering a robust digital ecosystem in Nigeria and beyond.