West Africa’s leading connectivity and data centre services provider, MainOne, has partnered with the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) to provide high-speed internet access to the MEST Incubator in Ikoyi, Lagos. MEST is a not-for-profit organization which provides technology training, seed investment and mentorship for the next generation of globally successful African software entrepreneurs.
This partnership will leverage MainOne’s fiber connectivity, as well as MEST’s seed fund and incubator to foster the growth and success of entrepreneurs by providing work space, high-speed internet, hands-on support, resources and a vibrant community to help start-ups succeed.
According to MainOne Chief Executive Officer, Funke Opeke, MainOne remains committed to powering up the startup and technology ecosystem in Nigeria which remains underdeveloped, to foster socio-economic development of Africa through the creation of sustainable businesses and enterprises.
“We will continue to support initiatives like the MEST with investments in fibre-optics infrastructure to deepen broadband penetration and create enabling environment for these companies”, she said.
“Our expansion into Lagos was in response to the vast amount of talent present combined with the surge in the development on technology in the country. Our Pan-African network of incubators is aimed at discovering the best tech talent on the continent and providing our existing entrepreneurs the support they need as they expand into new markets across the continent”, said Neku Atawodi-Edun, Director of Investor Relations at MEST.
Speaking on the partnership she applauded MainOne’s support in enabling the hub with the capacity to meet the requirements of entrepreneurs who just need the space to focus and work on their big ideas. “The MEST Incubator is a hub where different tech and digital start-ups, are availed seed funds and resources essential to the success of their business. We wanted to create a space to enable entrepreneurs in Africa build scalable businesses by providing access to work-spaces, electricity, a community of ideators and super-fast reliable internet, thanks to MainOne.”
Elaborating on the company’s efforts towards innovation in ICT, Tayo Ashiru, Head Marketing, stated, “We are able to relate to the challenges start-ups and small businesses experience in this economy and support them by improving the quality of access and accelerating the digital transformation of small businesses. It gives us immense pleasure to play such a vital role in growing this very important ecosystem.
MainOne’s goal is to empower every West African who has a great idea for a business to turn that idea into a reality which in turn can help the community, Nigeria and the continent as a whole. The company supports innovation through partnerships with start-ups including Co-Creation Hub, Andela, PagaTech, ImpactHub; and MEST and Hackerspace in Ghana among others.