MTN Group is partnering with Dubai-based data centre investor Tarek Al Ashram to develop AI-ready data centres in Africa, starting with South Africa and Nigeria, as the continent races to expand computing infrastructure needed for artificial intelligence and cloud services.
The venture, Africa Data Hub Holding Limited, will combine MTN’s extensive African footprint, connectivity networks and infrastructure assets with Al Ashram’s experience in financing and developing large-scale data centres. MTN will hold a minority stake, while the UAE-backed partner is expected to provide most of the capital and specialist technical expertise.
The first phase is expected to target about 150 megawatts of AI data centre capacity across South Africa and Nigeria. The partners intend to expand the platform as demand grows from cloud providers, large technology companies, businesses and governments. The facilities will not only support MTN’s own digital operations.
The company plans to make capacity available to hyperscalers, enterprises and governments, including organisations seeking to keep sensitive data and computing workloads within African jurisdictions. The partnership comes as Africa remains significantly underrepresented in the global data centre market. The continent accounts for less than 1% of global AI data centre capacity, despite having a rapidly growing digital economy and a population of more than 1.5 billion people.
That infrastructure gap has become increasingly important as AI systems require vastly more computing power than conventional digital services. Training and operating advanced AI models requires specialised processors, high-capacity networks, reliable electricity and sophisticated cooling systems.
For Africa, the shortage is not simply a technology problem. It is also an economic and strategic issue. Much of the continent’s digital traffic and computing capacity remains dependent on infrastructure outside Africa. Expanding local data centres can reduce latency, improve the reliability of digital services and allow businesses and governments to retain more data within their own jurisdictions.
MTN has already been building towards this market. Its digital infrastructure strategy now combines fibre networks with AI-enabled data centres, reflecting the group’s shift beyond traditional telecommunications towards infrastructure supporting cloud computing and other advanced digital services.
Al Ashram brings experience from the Gulf’s rapidly expanding data centre industry. He is a co-founder of Gulf Data Hub, a major data centre platform backed by KKR, and said Africa presents a strong opportunity because of rising digital demand and the need for resilient, scalable infrastructure. South Africa and Nigeria are logical starting points. Both have large digital markets, established telecommunications infrastructure and growing demand for cloud and enterprise computing.
MTN also has significant operations and connectivity assets in both countries.
The bigger ambition, however, extends beyond the initial 150MW. Africa’s AI adoption is accelerating, but its ability to benefit economically from the technology will depend partly on whether the continent can build enough of the physical infrastructure required to run it.
The MTN-Al Ashram venture places the telecoms group directly in that emerging infrastructure race, with the potential to expand data centre capacity into other African markets as demand develops. MTN Group is therefore positioning itself not simply as a provider of connectivity, but as an increasingly important player in the infrastructure behind Africa’s next phase of digital growth.