A Nigerian-British infrastructure company is betting that the biggest thing holding African founders back is not ambition. It is the cost of showing up.
Setting up a business online in Nigeria is more expensive than many people realise.
You would need to pay for a domain, hosting, professional email, SSL certificate (necessary so visitors are not warned away by their browsers) and a bunch of other add-ons before you can have a standard and fully functioning website. Even before founders begin building their platforms or serving customers, these expenses accumulate rapidly.
OneNet Servers, part of Conqolx Technologies, has launched a programme to cover these startup costs. It’s called the Digital Growth Credit. The idea is simple: organisations that support founders, like accelerators, business communities, VC firms, professional associations, and diaspora networks, can apply to become approved partners. Eligible partners are usually registered organisations with active networks of startups or small businesses. Once accepted, partners get up to NGN10 million (USD 5,000) in credits to share with founders and operators in their communities. Founders can use these credits through their community or partner organisation to get online.
It’s an intentional program designed to support growing businesses
The program is comparable to Amazon’s AWS credit or Microsoft’s Startup credit. The focus is on providing access to infrastructure.
“Good ideas die every day in Nigeria. Six in ten startups here do not survive—not because the vision was wrong, but because no one handed them the tools to take the first step. No domain. No hosting. No one to say, here, start here. This programme does not just hand out credits. It hands out a fighting chance. And for a community partner, that is not a perk. It’s a community advantage,” said Akinola Muyiwa, Founder of OneNet Servers.
Nigeria’s startup failure rate stands at 61 per cent, which is the highest among Africa’s three largest tech ecosystems. This is according to a report by Weetracker in collaboration with GreenTec Capital Africa Foundation. In 2024 alone, over 200 Nigerian startups reportedly shut down before reaching a second full year in operation, including several from promising accelerator cohorts and fintech pilots. The most commonly cited barriers were high upfront costs for digital infrastructure and ongoing challenges building trust with investors and customers due to a lack of professional online presence. Globally, roughly 70 per cent of startups do not survive past five years. The numbers point to a structural problem, not a talent problem.
“This initiative is about removing those barriers and giving founders the tools to move from vision to execution. It is more than support; it is an opportunity to turn ambition into something tangible and sustainable.” — Olumide Ogunseye
This approach is not new for OneNet Servers. The company began in 2015, providing hosting infrastructure to Nigerian businesses from a university dorm room. At that time, reliable local infrastructure was difficult to find and expensive. Ten years later, the language may have changed, but the commitment remains the same.
The Digital Growth Credit covers the essential tools every startup needs to establish a professional online presence, all at no cost for the first year. Founders can use credits for web hosting, WordPress hosting, and domain names (including .com.ng, .name.ng, .uk, and .xyz). The programme also includes business email, SSL certificates, and an AI site builder to help create polished, secure websites quickly. In addition, credits unlock a developer tool stack featuring n8n for workflow automation, DeepSeek for private AI, NextCloud for cloud storage, and WireGuard for secure networking. Altogether, these benefits allow founders to launch, secure, and grow their businesses online with a comprehensive suite of services.
That last category is quite critical. Most hosting credit programmes stop at a domain and a shared server. This one goes further into the tools a growing startup would actually need at the six or twelve-month mark, not just at launch.
The model: partners first
Access to the Digital Growth Credit is not direct. You do not go to the OneNet Servers website and apply as an individual. Instead, you access it through an approved provider.
Organisations that want to provide these credits to their members can apply to become recognised providers through a simple three-step process:
- Submit an application at partners.onenetservers.net.
- Complete a brief verification to confirm active status and reach within the startup or business community.
- Sign a partnership agreement outlining the responsibilities and benefits.
Once approved, the organisation receives access to the dedicated partner portal and a pool of credits to distribute across its network.
Providers are organisations that already work with founders: accelerators, startup communities, VC firms, professional associations, and diaspora business networks. They apply to become DGC providers, receive an allocated credit pool, and then distribute those credits to their members through a unique partner link.
Each provider has access to a partner portal showing real-time credit usage, including which members have redeemed credits, the value deployed, and the specific services accessed. This transparency enables partners to demonstrate clear, measurable support for their communities and enhances their value to members, with no manual tracking or follow-up required.
It is a sensible model for two reasons.
First, it solves a distribution problem. OneNet Servers is based in Nigeria and the UK. Its ability to identify and vet individual founders at scale across Africa is limited. But accelerators and startup communities have already done that work. They know who is serious. They have trust and relationships. Routing credits through them is operationally efficient and acts as a quality filter.
Second, it creates a partnership incentive that goes beyond just providing credits.
Community partners like ITANA use the programme to attract new members, retain existing ones, and offer tangible business infrastructure support. By enabling their members to access web hosting, email, and advanced tools at no cost, partners strengthen their community’s value proposition and reputation for providing real business solutions. This builds deeper, longer-term relationships for both partners and OneNet Servers.
That dynamic is especially significant with ITANA specifically. The organisation runs a Digital Residency Programme that is actively opening pathways for African businesses to access international markets, attract foreign investment, and build credibility with global partners. OneNet Servers is part of the programme’s first cohort. The DGC partnership is a direct extension of that relationship.
Through the programme ITANA is building a corridor between African founders and the business environment, helping them scale beyond their geography. Infrastructure makes that corridor real. A business with a professional web presence, branded email, and reliable hosting stack presents differently to investors in London or New York than one without. That gap is smaller than most people think, and it starts with getting online Properly.
The Itana partnership
ITANA is the first organisation to join as a DGC provider. Through the partnership, ITANA members gain immediate access to the full credit stack.
The timing is deliberate. ITANA’s Digital Residency Programme, now in its second cohort, helps companies that are intentionally establishing and scaling across the African market. OneNet Servers is among the first cohort of companies. The DGC partnership formalises a shared goal: to give African businesses the infrastructure to compete globally, not just locally.
For ITANA, adding the Digital Growth Credit offers members direct, practical benefits: they can get online with essential services at no cost, increasing ITANA’s support to the companies in its community.
This helps ITANA acquire quality members and demonstrate real support for startup growth. For OneNet Servers, partnering with a credible community like ITANA signals its commitment to building a robust network focused on founder success and helps ensure programme uptake by engaged and relevant users.
Mayowa Olugbile, CEO of ITANA, explained the value of the partnership for the organisation’s broader vision.
“The Digital Residency Programme is redefining what it means to build an African business in a global, digitalised economy. OneNet Servers is itself a strong example of the growth African companies achieve when given the right conditions to thrive. At Itana, we are creating a framework where founders are not constrained by geography, but supported with the credibility, infrastructure, and networks they need to operate internationally from day one. Our partnership with OneNet Servers strengthens that mission by ensuring our residents can establish a professional digital presence that meets global standards from the outset,” said Mayowa Olugbile, Chief Executive Officer of Itana.
That framing matters. ITANA is not describing this as a hosting deal. It is described as an infrastructure layer beneath a much larger ambition. Oneserver net is actively onboarding more providers, and the partner portal is live, giving new partners immediate tools to track credit distribution, demonstrate impact, and enhance their community’s offerings. This makes it easy for approved partners to deliver clear, useful benefits to their members right away.
Organisations that want to extend Digital Growth Credits to their communities can apply at partners.onenetservers.net.
Applications are reviewed within one to two business days.
About OneNet servers
OneNet Servers is a product-led infrastructure company providing hosting, cloud services, and AI-powered tools for founders, operators, and growing businesses across Africa and the United Kingdom. It operates as the infrastructure division of Conqolx Technologies, a company registered in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
