The largest network provider in Africa, MTN, has agreed to collaborate with Dubai-based investor Tarek Al Ashram to build data center infrastructure across Africa, as AI continues to become more pivotal.
- MTN, Africa’s largest network provider, is partnering with Dubai-based investor Tarek Al Ashram to develop data center infrastructure across Africa.
- Africa Data Hub Holding Ltd., backed by Al Ashram’s investment firm, will focus on building large-scale AI data centers to strengthen the continent’s digital infrastructure.
- Despite Africa’s young and fast-growing population, the region currently has less than 1% of global AI data center capacity.
- The initiative is in response to anticipated demand growth for data center services as AI adoption rises among African businesses and government agencies.
Al Ashram, co-founder of the KKR-backed Gulf Data Hub, confirmed that his investment firm will supply financial backing for the newly established enterprise, Africa Data Hub Holding Ltd.
“We see significant potential to bring our experience in developing and operating large-scale data center platforms to African markets,” said Al Ashram. Africa Data Hub will “help shape that growth,” he added.
Although Africa possesses one of the youngest and most rapidly growing demographic profiles globally, its AI-supporting infrastructure remains underdeveloped.
According to metrics from the World Economic Forum, the continent presently accounts for under 1% of total global AI data center capacity, as seen on Bloomberg.
The UAE-based investor is going ahead with this plan, based on his projection that demand for data center capacity across Africa will experience substantial growth as commercial enterprises and governmental institutions find more use for AI.
Africa now presents a “similarly compelling opportunity, driven by strong underlying demand, rapidly expanding digital economies and an increasing need for resilient and scalable infrastructure,” to what the Middle East has experienced over the years, said Al Ashram.
From MTN’s perspective, this initiative aligns with its strategic objective to diversify revenue channels beyond its primary telecommunications model.
“The approach that we are taking on the building of our AI business is to partner with third parties, and the entity that we are partnering with has built data centers in the UAE,” MTN Chief Executive Ralph Mupita said at an event on Tuesday.
“We are taking a phased approach and will start building out 150 megawatts of AI data center capacity,” he added.
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Maintaining operations across 16 African markets, MTN identifies data center infrastructure as a key vector to capitalize on the rapid proliferation of AI.
The newly formed entity plans to construct facilities in Nigeria and South Africa to accommodate MTN’s internal computational demands while simultaneously providing infrastructure capacity to major cloud service providers, enterprise clients, and public sector entities.
According to MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita, the company is actively securing land and negotiating power agreements to enable a phased rollout of AI-focused data center infrastructure throughout the continent.
Furthermore, this approach addresses an increasing push from governments for enhanced data sovereignty and local control over sensitive information.
