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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), through the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), has entered a strategic partnership with Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) to provide subsidised sovereign cloud services to startups under the iHatch programme.
The collaboration is aimed at accelerating startup growth while advancing Nigeria’s broader digital transformation agenda, with a focus on data sovereignty, digital inclusion, and indigenous innovation.
Under the initiative, participating startups will be onboarded onto the Galaxy Cloud Platform (GxCP), a sovereign infrastructure supported by Uptime-certified Tier III and Tier IV data centres, a nationwide fibre network, and enhanced cybersecurity capabilities.
Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, said the partnership reflects the agency’s commitment to building a resilient and globally competitive startup ecosystem by improving access to critical digital infrastructure.
Similarly, Managing Director/CEO of GBB, Professor Ibrahim Adeyanju, noted that the initiative is designed to equip startups with secure, enterprise-grade cloud services at significantly reduced costs. He added that enabling local data hosting will strengthen Nigeria’s digital sovereignty and reduce exposure to external risks.
To ensure sustainability, the programme adopts a tiered, milestone-based model, with cloud credits distributed across key stages of a startup’s lifecycle—Build, Validate, and Scale. These credits will be valid for 12 months, after which startups will transition to standard subscription or pay-as-you-go pricing.
As part of the rollout, GBB will deploy a dedicated Startup Success Team to support onboarding and drive adoption. Startups will also benefit from automated monitoring tools and usage alerts to optimise resource utilisation.
A key feature of the initiative is local currency billing, with all post-credit payments denominated in naira. This approach is expected to shield startups from foreign exchange volatility and improve cost predictability.
Commenting on the broader impact, Abdul Malik Suleiman, GBB’s General Manager for Strategic Partnerships, described the collaboration as a deliberate move to bridge the gap between infrastructure and innovation by making world-class cloud services more accessible.
Victoria Fabunmi, National Coordinator of ONDI, added that integrating GBB’s sovereign cloud into the iHatch programme strengthens startups’ ability to scale from early-stage ideas to market-ready solutions, while enhancing their competitiveness both locally and globally.
According to a joint statement by NITDA and GBB, the iHatch programme has already supported more than 160 startups across 37 innovation hubs nationwide. The new partnership is expected to deepen that impact by enabling faster scaling, driving innovation, and strengthening Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.
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