ENTERPRISE54 – Ghana-based Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) has finalized a partnership deal with leading African online and mobile payment service provider Interswitch Ltd, to expand its entrepreneurial training to include Nigerian entrepreneurs.

MEST, a school for African startups boasting entrepreneurs whom have been drafted to Silicon Valley, will for the first time recruit and train entrepreneurs in training (EITs) who hail from both Ghana and Nigeria, beginning this fall.

“Interswitch MEST’ training programme is a welcome development that complements the work of the Federal Ministry in developing the skills and reach of local ICT entrepreneurs in Nigeria. We look forward to the success of this initiative and world class software companies in Nigeria, being created as a direct result of this collaboration,” Nigeria’s Federal Minister of Communication Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson, said.

MEST in an official statement said the partnership will allow it access Africa’s biggest market  and facilitate its impact on West Africa.

“Nigeria, with a population of 180 million people, has a vibrant and growing middle class of consumers, a fast-moving economy and a youthful population that craves and consumes the latest technology. Access to a much wider market will translate into larger growth opportunities for both our students and our portfolio companies,” the statement read.

This deal marks the beginning of a series of partnerships by MEST as it plans to develop a rich network of strategic relationships within and across regional technology ecosystems in Africa to support local entrepreneurs, as well as further catalyze the explosive growth that is already underway in these markets.

According to Katie Sarro, MEST Director of Business Development, the team would be in Lagos on the 11th of July to kickoff recruitment.