Economy
Alibaba Cloud Revamps Global Partnership Ecosystem to Fuel AI-driven Growth
New AI-focused initiatives with an enhanced incentive program, an AI partner accelerator program and revitalized service partner strategy to support global partners and customers
BALI, INDONESIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 3 December 2024 – Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group today announced the launch of its revamped AI-focused partner ecosystem plan, known as “Alibaba Cloud Partner Rainforest Plan” during the Alibaba Cloud Partner Summit 2024 through a series of new initiatives including an AI partner accelerator program, an enhanced incentive program and a revitalized global strategy for service partners. The initiatives aim to foster the growth of global partners and accelerate the development and deployment of cutting-edge artificial intelligence and cloud computing solutions for businesses across various industries worldwide.
“At Alibaba Cloud, we believe that collaboration is the key to unlocking innovation and driving growth. Our global partners are not just participants, they are the architects of a new digital landscape in the AI era.” Selina Yuan, President of International Business, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence said during the summit, “Today, with our revamped global partner ecosystem, we are committed to supporting our global partners to jointly reap the benefits of AI era and meet the diverse business demand of global customers.”
New AI-focused Partner Ecosystem initiatives
To meet the surging demand for AI technologies from the global customers, Alibaba Cloud debuted AI Alliance Accelerator Program to build a dedicated AI partner ecosystem through collaboration with 50 AI technology partners and 50 channel partners in 2025.
This program offers selected AI technology partners enhanced technical support focused on AI, expanded distribution channels, collaborative go-to-market resources, and dedicated AI consulting services. Meanwhile, chosen channel partners will benefit from increased financial incentives and market development funds for their AI-related initiatives. By leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s AI capabilities and its global technology ecosystem, the initiative aims to enhance partner enablement and accelerate diverse partners’ digital transformation journey. It also seeks to empower global partners to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the AI era, reaching a broader customer base through Alibaba Cloud’s extensive distribution network of channel partners
Alibaba Cloud has also unveiled an enhanced global system for its service partners, introducing the Revitalized Service Partner Program. This initiative focuses on cultivating new service partners by upskilling channel partner and technology partners with targeted training and empowerment, equipping them with necessary capabilities of consulting, implementation and managed services to diversify their revenue stream and deliver a comprehensive service to the customer. It also seeks to empower existing service partners by expanding their offering to include both product reselling and service delivery. Additionally, leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s Generative AI capabilities, the company has collaborated with service partners to jointly develop the Managed Large Language Model Service and other AI-focused services to foster an AI partner ecosystem and address the diverse digital transformation needs of global customers.
Meanwhile, Alibaba Cloud pledged to extend new strategic partnerships with 18 service partners including Whale Cloud, Bespin Global, Cognizant Worldwide, Deloitte, Accenture and FPT out of the existing 50 global standard service partners via enhanced resource sharing and capability complement, aiming to build a comprehensive service system that meets diverse needs of global customers.
In addition, the company also released its Synergistic Incentive Program designed to strengthen the collaboration between its global technology partners and channel partners, fostering a vibrant and dynamic ecosystem. The program introduces an expanded go-to-market pathway, enabling technology partners to boost revenue by leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s extensive channel network while channel partners gain access to a broader product portfolio, increasing sales opportunities and enhancing profit margins. This initiative drives mutual growth and reinforces Alibaba Cloud’s commitment to empowering its partners and nurturing a robust global ecosystem.
Enhanced Collaborations with Global and Regional Partners
In order to support global customers to reap the benefit of digitalization in the AI era. Alibaba Cloud has also announced enhanced collaboration with innovative technology and channel partners, both globally and regionally, to provide cutting-edge cloud computing and AI products and solutions, fostering a thriving and sustainable ecosystem.
In Indonesia Alibaba Cloud has reached a strategic partnership with Telkom Indonesia to provide innovative and effective AI-supported cloud solutions for the Indonesian community. Additionally, this collaboration aims to develop the digital talent increasingly needed in Indonesia to realize the vision of Indonesia Emas 2045.
In Japan: Alibaba Cloud has partnered with Securai, a Japanese company that provides cloud services and information security solutions, to meet the booming digital transformation requests by Japanese businesses. In particular, Securai will localize Alibaba Cloud’s Zstack service for the Japanese market and provide operational support for the stable continuation of the service. Alibaba Cloud’s Zstack is an enterprise-grade cloud platform designed specifically for enterprise customers based on the Apsara distributed operating system for enhanced self-ownership, security compliance, and autonomous O&M.
In Thailand: Alibaba Cloud signed a MoU with Yell Group, a leading creative digital company based in Thailand. This collaboration aims to address the growing demand for Generative AI and to empower the creative media industry with scalable and reliable cloud-based solutions. Leveraging cutting-edge Generative AI, the company develops applications to support creators in their visual endeavors. To promote industry-wide adoption of AI-driven solutions, Yell Group will utilize Alibaba Cloud’s robust cloud computing capabilities to enhance scalability in the creative sector. Additionally, the partnership will introduce Alibaba Cloud’s media solutions, such as Elastic Desktop Service (EDS) and Object Storage Service (OSS), to foster innovation and growth in this dynamic field.
Alibaba Cloud currently works with about 12,000 partners worldwide, including Salesforce, Fortinet, IBM and Neo4j.
Hashtag: #alibaba
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Alibaba Cloud
Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com) is the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group. It offers a complete suite of cloud services to customers worldwide, including elastic computing, database, storage, network virtualization services, large-scale computing, security, big data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) services. Alibaba has been named the leading IaaS provider in Asia Pacific by revenue in U.S. dollars since 2018, according to Gartner. It has also maintained its position as one of the world’s leading public cloud IaaS service providers since 2018, according to IDC.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has raised the natural gas price for power generation companies (GenCos) to $2.18 per million metric British thermal units (MMBTU).
This marks a $0.05/MMBTU hike from the earlier rate of $2.13 per MMBTU.
In a circular released on Tuesday, the regulator outlined the updated domestic base price (DBP) and wholesale natural gas prices for 2025.
The DBP represents the lowest price at which natural gas can be offered in the domestic market.
The document states that the adjustment will begin today (April 1, 2026).
“Taking into account the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) provisions, current market conditions, and the official Gas Pricing and Domestic Demand Regulations, the NMDPRA sets the new Domestic Base Price at USD 2.18/MMBtu, along with wholesale prices for the strategic sector, starting April 1, 2026,” the circular stated.
In the directive signed by NMDPRA CEO, Mr Saidu Mohammed, the regulator also indicates that commercial buyers will now pay $2.68 per MMBTU, up from $2.63 per MMBTU previously.
Additionally, the authority fixed prices for gas-based industries (such as ammonia, urea, methanol, and low-sulphur diesel) at a floor of $0.90 per MMBTU and a ceiling of $2.18 per MMBTU.
NMDPRA explained that the domestic base price at the marketable gas delivery point—per section 167(1) of the PIA—follows regulations based on key principles:
“a) A rate sufficient to encourage upstream producers to voluntarily supply enough gas to the domestic market.
“b) No higher than the average natural gas prices in major emerging producer nations.
“c) Based on the lowest supply costs under a three-tier framework.
“d) Aligned with market rates and international benchmarks.”
This change could affect the country’s power sector, already strained by massive debt and a lack of gas supply.
Last month, the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), an umbrella body for power generation companies, warned that gas suppliers might halt deliveries to thermal plants due to debt of around N6.5 trillion.
The federal government disclosed plans in December to raise N1.23 trillion by the first quarter (Q1) of 2026 to settle verified arrears owed to generation companies and gas suppliers. On January 27, the government said it had successfully issued a N501 billion inaugural bond under the presidential power sector debt reduction programme (PPSDRP).
However, the APGC has said that this is inadequate, comparing the debt to “garri soaked in water.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange further declined by 0.23 per cent, with the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 9.63 points on Tuesday, March 31, to 4,100.11 points from 4,109.74 points.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation went down by N5.76 billion to finish at N2.453 trillion from the N2.458 trillion it closed a day earlier.
The mood of the market was flat yesterday as there were three price losers and three price gainers, led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained N1.51 to sell at N78.68 per unit compared with the previous day’s N77.17 per unit. UBN Property Plc appreciated by 15 Kobo to N2.20 per share from N2.05 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc improved by 3 Kobo to N3.25 per unit from N3.22 per unit.
On the flip side, 11 Plc lost N31.05 to close at N285.00 per share versus Monday’s closing price of N316.50 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped 95 Kobo to trade at N98.05 per unit versus N99.00 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc went down by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 57 Kobo per share.
During the trading day, the volume of securities jumped by 137.9 per cent to 50.8 million units from 21.3 million units, the number of deals rose 28.9 per cent to 49 deals from the preceding session’s 38 deals, while the value of securities went down by 65.2 per cent to N226.9 million from N651.1 million.
CSCS Plc remained the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 56.8 million units worth N3.8 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units valued at N1.8 billion, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
Resourcery Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million, followed by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 183.0 million units exchanged for N673.8 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira weakened against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, March 31, by 0.23 per cent or N3.14 to N1,386.72/$1 from the N1,383.58/$1 it was traded on Monday.
Similarly, the Nigerian currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window by N14.40 to close at N1,839.34/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,824.94/£1, and against the Euro, it lost N12.88 to settle at N1,599.16/€1 versus N1,586.28/€1.
In the same vein, the Naira stumbled against the Dollar yesterday by N1 to quote at N1,395/$1 versus N1,394/$1, and in the black market, it remained unchanged at N1,410/$1.
The Naira remains under pressure as FX liquidity shrank, as evidenced by the number of interbank FX deals published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Last week, forex intervention operations saw the apex bank inject $95 million into the supply side, but as high demand for the Dollar as a safe-haven asset continues, it strengthened the Dollar index, while the Euro, British Pound and other major trading partners weakened.
The country’s external reserves recorded a marginal decline, falling by 0.7 per cent to $49.48 billion, reflecting a depletion of about $350 million and signalling continued pressure on Nigeria’s FX buffer.
In the cryptocurrency market, reports of comments by Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian hinted at eased geopolitical tensions, which triggered gains across some assets.
Mr Pezeshkian reportedly signalled Iran would be willing to end the conflict in exchange for security guarantees, raising hopes for a diplomatic off-ramp and reducing fears of a wider regional war.
Ethereum (ETH) gained 4.4 per cent to trade at $2,150.11, Ripple (XRP) jumped 2.8 per cent to $1.36, Bitcoin (BTC) added 2.5 per cent to sell at $69,079.14, Cardano (ADA) which also rose by 2.5 per cent to $0.2518, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 2.4 per cent to $0.0941, Solana (SOL) grew by 1.3 per cent to $84.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 1.2 per cent to $618.86, while TRON (TRX) dipped 1.8 per cent to $0.3153, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) flat at $1.00 apiece.
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