The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) on Friday, January 24, 2025, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MTN Nigeria and advanced weather intelligence company, Tomorrow.io, to develop a Digital Climate Advisory Services (DCAS) System.
Karl Toriola, the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, made this known in a statement on Friday in Lagos.
Toriola said that the partnership was aimed at delivering location-specific, actionable weather advisories to Nigerian farmers via mobile SMS.
He said that the partnership which is in line with the United Nations (UN) goal of ensuring early warning systems, would strengthen climate resilience in Nigeria, particularly in the agricultural sector.
According to him, MTN is always looking for ways to support government agencies and the Nigerian public in general.
He expressed optimism about what the partnership with NiMet and Tomorrow.io would do for the agricultural sector, emergency and disaster management, the public and the Nigerian economy.
“From the bottom of our hearts, we are grateful to NiMet for allowing MTN to partner with it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike, said that the overall aim of the partnership was to improve agricultural productivity and also resilience by providing localised, timely weather advisories.
Anosike said that it aligned with the food security agenda of the Federal Government.
“The choice of MTN and Tomorrow.io is strategic as they are leaders in their respective sectors.
“I am excited to welcome the MTN CEO and other officials, and the Tomorrow.io team to NiMet for this groundbreaking MoU signing that will impact not only the agricultural sector, but on the entire Nigerian economy.
“My primary objective has been to open up the space of the business of climate science to the private sector so that they will begin to understand the incredible impact of climate science,” he said.
The Managing Director of Tomorrow.io, Dr Henry Onyemachi, appreciated the NiMet D-G for his strong leadership during the whole the process leading to the MoU.
“For us at Tomorrow.io, it is a very happy moment, reflecting on the progressive and very focused journey which began a year ago,” he said.
He said that it was a very impactful project which would positively impact government’s agenda on food security.
Under the terms of the MoU, the parties will collaborate in the development, deployment, and testing of the DCAS platform.
The platform will provide weather-based advisories to farmers through SMS notifications.
By Stellamaris Ashinze