TLDR: Huawei Cloud recently hosted the AI4Naija Forum in Lagos, bringing together over 120 customers from various sectors to discuss and accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence in Nigeria. The event showcased Huawei’s commitment to empowering local enterprises and fostering industrial intelligence through its latest AI products, capabilities, and talent development programs.
Huawei Cloud successfully hosted the AI4Naija Forum in Lagos on August 18, 2025. The forum, themed ‘AI in Action: From Theory to Practice,’ gathered over 120 customers from diverse sectors including government, finance, and e-commerce, to explore the vast opportunities and future trajectory of artificial intelligence in Nigeria .
Hugo Hu, Managing Director of Huawei Cloud Nigeria, emphasized AI’s role as a pivotal engine for growth, enabling Nigeria to acquire new capabilities and seize emerging opportunities. He stated, “We hope to be an integral part of this journey and contribute to Nigeria’s industrial intelligence” . Huawei Cloud aims to accelerate intelligent transformation across industries by implementing its “Cloud for AI” and “AI for Cloud” strategies, working collaboratively towards shared success in the AI era .
Hu highlighted three core initiatives by Huawei Cloud in Nigeria: the Young Nigeria Talent Program, AI Foundation for an Intelligent Nigeria, and Dynamic Nigeria AI Practice . These programs underscore Huawei’s commitment to talent development and fostering a robust AI ecosystem.
Dr. Olusola Ayoola, CEO of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Nigeria, delivered a keynote speech titled ‘AI Empowers the Future of Nigeria’s Industries’. He stressed that AI is becoming a central driver of Nigeria’s digital transformation and economic growth, urging the nation to learn from China’s successful AI transformation by leveraging policy support and talent development to bridge the technology gap and enhance competitiveness .
Roc Bai noted that Huawei Cloud’s large AI models are already widely adopted across key industries such as fintech, logistics, transportation, and energy, delivering significant value to top-tier customers . With the launch of CloudMatrix 384, Huawei is building an AI-native cloud infrastructure to provide powerful AI computing capabilities, with plans to introduce increasingly advanced AI technologies and best practices to Nigeria . Dotun Adekunle, Chief Technology Officer of OPay, also highlighted the increasing importance of AI in the financial sector .
The forum included a hands-on workshop titled “Build Your First AI Agent on Huawei Cloud.” Participants, guided by Huawei Cloud AI experts, successfully built AI Agents from scratch within 40 minutes. This session covered knowledge base construction, intelligent Q&A, and information summarization, allowing attendees to experience firsthand the process of building knowledge retrieval and tool-calling capabilities and explore AI’s potential applications in real business scenarios .
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Huawei Cloud reiterated its pledge to drive AI adoption and industrial intelligence in Nigeria, promising to accelerate innovation and open new opportunities for Nigeria and the broader African market . The company’s efforts are fueling momentum in Nigeria’s digital transformation journey .
