Galaxy Backbone, Nigeria’s state-owned digital infrastructure provider, offered subsidised cloud services to startups in the iHatch programme through a partnership reported on May 3, 2026.
The partnership involved the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation, a unit of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). It covered participating iHatch businesses rather than an unrestricted offer to all startups.
Okay News reports that Galaxy Backbone described support through cloud credits released at successive business-development milestones, labelled Build, Validate and Scale.
The credits would run for a specified period before businesses moved to regular billing, with payments made in naira, Nigeria’s currency.
Galaxy Backbone’s managing director and chief executive, Ibrahim Adeyanju, said participating businesses would host their data in Nigeria. The company also promised an onboarding team, usage monitoring and alerts to help startups manage their allocated resources.
The announcement did not specify a monetary value for the credits or publish a universal allocation for each company. Its phased structure tied the support to progress through the programme.
NITDA’s director-general, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, said the partnership was intended to improve startups’ access to essential digital infrastructure. The agency’s iHatch programme supports early-stage businesses through a network of innovation hubs.
The support would be delivered through the Galaxy Cloud Platform. The Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation’s national coordinator, Victoria Fabunmi, said the infrastructure support was intended to help participating startups develop and expand their products.
