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Onome Amuge
Zoho,a global technology company, is deepening its Nigerian presence as it records one of its fastest rates of customer growth globally, while new research suggests the country is setting a benchmark for responsible artificial intelligence adoption.
The privately held company, founded 29 years ago in Chennai, has long distinguished itself from Silicon Valley peers by resisting stock market pressure and avoiding external venture capital. Instead, it has grown quietly into a global provider of more than 55 cloud-based applications with over 18,000 employees and nearly one million paying customers. Africa, and Nigeria in particular, has emerged as one of its strongest growth engines.
In Lagos last week, Zoho unveiled findings from a study it commissioned on Nigerian businesses’ use of AI while also highlighting its expanding customer base. Kehinde Ogundare, the company’s country head, told reporters at a press conference on Monday that Nigerian businesses adopting Zoho products rose by 74 per cent in 2024, with retention levels higher than almost anywhere else in the world.
“Our churn rate is just 2.4 per cent — probably the lowest you will see in the industry today. We are not just here to make money and leave. Our commitment to Nigeria is long term, and the steady growth we’ve seen shows that customers now trust us to be part of their transformation journey,” Ogundare said.
SMEs powering demand
Nigeria’s nearly 40 million small and medium-sized enterprises, often cited as the backbone of Africa’s largest economy, are seen increasingly moving operations off paper ledgers and into cloud systems. Ogundare stressed that it is no longer possible to run businesses with pencil and paper if you want to compete, citing accounting tool Zoho Books, email suite Zoho Workplace, and Zoho Campaigns for digital marketing as among the most popular products locally.
The appeal, he argued, is affordability and localisation. Zoho runs its own data centres and technology stack, allowing it to keep prices lower than many US rivals. “If you are a business owner looking for software to run your operations and you can’t find it on our platform,you probably don’t need it,” Ogundare stated.
Zoho opened its Nigerian office in 2022 and has since built a Lagos hub, joining a network of outposts in Nairobi, Cape Town, Dubai and elsewhere. Key sectors driving adoption include financial services, education, real estate, IT services, media and retail.
Privacy-first AI
Alongside growth figures, Zoho released a report conducted by US-based Arion Research entitled The AI Privacy Equation: The Nigerian Model of Responsible AI Adoption. The survey of 386 Nigerian business leaders suggests the country is striking a rare balance between embracing AI and protecting data.
According to the findings, 93 per cent of Nigerian organisations have begun deploying AI, with a third already achieving advanced integration across operations. Strikingly, 94 per cent now have a dedicated privacy officer or team, well above global averages. And 40 per cent allocate more than 30 per cent of their IT budgets to privacy protection.
Michael Fauscette, chief executive of Arion Research, said the results challenge the conventional wisdom that AI adoption requires privacy trade-offs. He noted that Nigerian businesses are proving that robust governance isn’t a constraint on innovation, but a competitive advantage that builds customer trust and creates sustainable AI implementations.”
Ogundare argued that this approach mirrors Zoho’s own philosophy. “We continue to invest in Nigeria as businesses here accelerate their adoption of technology to grow and scale. The latest study proves that Nigerian businesses are leading the way in responsible AI adoption. This mirrors Zoho’s philosophy of building contextual and privacy-first AI models that can help businesses realise tangible benefits,” he said.
Despite the optimism, the report identified some significant challenges. A shortage of technical expertise was the top barrier, cited by 37 per cent of businesses, followed by privacy and security concerns at 35 per cent. To address this, it noted that Nigerian companies are prioritising skills such as data analysis (69 per cent), AI literacy (53 per cent) and prompt engineering for generative AI tools (40 per cent).
“This leadership-driven approach is accelerating adoption and moving companies quickly from pilots to full-scale deployment,” the report observed, pointing to Nigeria’s financial sector as a pioneer. Banks and insurers surveyed listed customer service automation, software enhancement and marketing optimisation as their most common AI use cases, each framed around privacy-by-design principles.
Nigeria’s Data Protection Act, introduced last year, has also raised corporate awareness. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said regulatory consciousness had increased since its passage, with most companies conducting privacy audits, enforcing data minimisation in AI training, and requiring explainability of AI decisions.
For Zoho, which has been developing AI for more than a decade, the emphasis on privacy dovetails with its strategic positioning against larger US competitors. Unlike many rivals, the company insists it does not use customer data to train models. “We own every layer of our technology stack, which allows us to maintain low pricing and protect user information,” Ogundare said.
Zoho also noted that Nigeria offers both a test market and a showcase for its global ambitions. By aligning its AI strategy with the privacy priorities of Nigerian executives, the company hopes to cement trust in a market often sceptical of foreign technology providers.
The stakes are high though. Nigeria’s economic volatility, marked by currency depreciation, inflation and erratic power supply, has historically made it difficult for software firms to gain traction. But the scale of its SME sector, coupled with rising smartphone penetration and a young workforce, is creating fresh opportunities.
Ogundare also criticised local businesses for failing to take advantage of government loans and grants due to inadequate record-keeping. “If you don’t have proper accounts, you cannot access loans or grants. That’s exactly the gap Zoho Books is designed to fill,” he said.
Zoho’s insistence on staying private and debt-free has helped it avoid the acquisition sprees and short-term investor pressures that have unsettled some of its rivals. By reinvesting profits into research and development, especially in AI, it aims to serve as a stable partner for emerging markets.
According to analysts, its Nigerian story, combining rapid customer growth with evidence of privacy-conscious AI adoption, may provide a template for how global software providers can adapt to Africa’s complex business environment.
