MTN has announced 20 innovative startups as the first cohort of the Cloud Accelerator Programme.
Announced at the weekend in Lagos, the 12-week hybrid accelerator, which runs from September 6 to December 6, 2025, 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 event, Chief Enterprise Business Officer at MTN Nigeria, Lynda Saint-Nwafor, 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 Programme 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 programme provides.”
Among the Accelerator Programme 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 per cent for over 20,000 farmers, and XChangeBOX, led by Abiola Jimoh, is driving excellence in agro-commodity trading and exports.
