Overview

Extreme weather events continue to disrupt lives and livelihoods across Africa. With agriculture-dependent populations especially vulnerable, there is a growing need for accessible and timely information to help people prepare for climate-related disruptions. As part of its approach to climate resilience, MTN Group is advancing digital solutions that support early warning and informed decision-making.

This work is underpinned by a strategic alliance between MTN, Tomorrow.io, and Microsoft to develop a continent-wide early warning system. The initiative brings together climate intelligence, cloud computing, and mobile connectivity to deliver localised weather alerts directly to people’s mobile phones.

Response

To address the growing risk of extreme weather, MTN Group is working with Tomorrow.io and Microsoft to build a digital early warning system capable of reaching more than 300 million people. The solution integrates Tomorrow.io’s hyperlocal weather engine with Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure and MTN’s network presence across Africa to deliver actionable alerts where they are needed most.

In Nigeria, this partnership has taken a step forward through a collaboration between MTN Nigeria, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), and Tomorrow.io. In January 2024, the partners formalised their cooperation through a Memorandum of Understanding, launching the Digital Climate Advisory Services (DCAS) platform. This initiative focuses on providing smallholder farmers with location-specific, mobile-based weather advisories that support better planning around planting, irrigation, and harvesting.

The platform combines NiMet’s meteorological expertise, Tomorrow.io’s data modelling capabilities, and MTN’s telecommunications infrastructure. Together, these elements ensure that farmers receive timely and relevant weather insights that can help reduce climate-related risks and improve agricultural productivity. The collaboration also aligns with the United Nations’ “Early Warnings for All” initiative, contributing to broader global efforts to improve disaster preparedness and community resilience. 

Impacts and achievements

Under the terms of the MoU, the three parties will collaborate to develop, deploy, and test the DCAS platform. The system will provide weather-based advisories to farmers through mobile notifications, enabling them to make informed decisions about planting, irrigation and harvesting. By delivering hyperlocalised weather forecasts and actionable insights, the DCAS system will help farmers adapt to climate variability, reduce crop losses, and improve yields.

Outlook

This partnership reflects a shared commitment to building climate resilience through technology and collaboration. As the DCAS system scales, it has the potential to benefit millions of farmers across Nigeria and beyond. By enabling timely access to weather intelligence, MTN, NiMet, and Tomorrow.io are working together to support more adaptive, informed, and sustainable agriculture.