UK-Nigeria tech hub collaborates with google to promote digital inclusion

The UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, a pillar of the UK government’s broader Digital Access Program (DAP), has collaborated with Google for Startups, Africa to help promote digital inclusion and jointly support technology businesses run by women founders.

The two entities will award $3 million in Google Cloud credits to women founders in Nigeria.

The support is to subsidise cloud technology-related costs for startups, allowing them to focus on innovation, customer acquisition, and growth.

The joint effort by UK-Nigeria Tech Hub and Google for Startups Africa will help promote digital inclusion and jointly support technology businesses run by women founders.

The two organisations will co-host an event in Lagos, Nigeria, bringing together women founders, investors, and ecosystem stakeholders.

The event is aimed to help women founders understand the technology funding landscape and position themselves to secure funding for their startups.

The Country Director, UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, Justina Oha said, “We are thrilled to announce our collaboration with Google for Startups, which comes at a time when the world is celebrating International Women’s Day. This partnership is a testament to our commitment to supporting women founders and helping them reach their full potential. Partnerships like this are one of the great ways that stakeholders can come together to advance Nigeria’s tech ecosystem at an accelerated pace”.

Head of Startup Ecosystem Google Africa, Folarin Aiyegbusi speaking on the collaboration, said “We are excited to partner with the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub to empower women entrepreneurs in Nigeria. This collaboration is a unique opportunity to provide women founders with the support and resources they need to scale their businesses and contribute to the growth of Nigeria’s tech ecosystem. At Google for Startups, we are committed to supporting startups and entrepreneurs around the world, and we believe that empowering women founders is key to building a more diverse and inclusive tech industry”.

The UK- Nigeria Tech Hub is an initiative by the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sports (DCMS) to support the growth of the Technology ecosystem in Nigeria by promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the tech sector, leading to more trade and investment in the longer term. ​

While Google’s mission is to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Through products and platforms like Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Chrome and YouTube, Google plays a meaningful role in the daily lives of billions of people and has become one of the most widely-known companies in the world. Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.

Dominica Nwabufo