MTN Group is creating a dedicated platform to develop AI-ready data centre infrastructure across Africa, bringing its digital infrastructure assets together with specialist investment and operating expertise as demand for cloud and high-density computing accelerates.
The telecommunications group said MTN Digital Infrastructure has entered a strategic partnership with a UAE-based data centre investment platform and will pursue future opportunities through Africa Data Hub Holding Limited. The platform will initially focus on South Africa and Nigeria, two of the continent’s largest digital markets, before targeting opportunities across additional African economies.
Africa Data Hub Creates a Dedicated Infrastructure Platform
The partnership separates the development of large-scale digital infrastructure from MTN’s traditional mobile-network business while retaining access to the group’s extensive African footprint. MTN said Africa Data Hub Holding will serve as the vehicle through which future data centre opportunities are developed and scaled across key markets.
The UAE-based investment platform was founded by data centre developer and investor Tarek Al Ashram. MTN is pairing that specialist development experience with its existing market presence, customer relationships and infrastructure base. Bayobab, MTN’s digital connectivity business and a shareholder in the partnership, will provide open-access connectivity and go-to-market support through its pan-African network.
“This partnership is a step forward in the execution of our digital infrastructure strategy and demonstrates the power of collaboration.” — Mazen Mroué, CEO, MTN Group Digital Infrastructure
The structure is intended to give the new platform access to both physical connectivity and dedicated infrastructure capital. That combination is increasingly important as AI facilities require larger power connections, more sophisticated cooling systems and higher upfront investment than conventional enterprise data centres.
South Africa and Nigeria Lead the Initial Deployment Focus
MTN has identified South Africa and Nigeria as the first markets for Africa Data Hub. Both countries already sit at the centre of the group’s African operations and have significant enterprise, cloud and connectivity demand.
Local AI infrastructure is becoming more strategically important as companies and governments seek lower-latency computing, stronger data sovereignty and greater control over where sensitive workloads are processed. Building capacity inside African markets can reduce reliance on computing infrastructure hosted on other continents while supporting local cloud ecosystems and enterprise digitalisation.
The partnership also reflects a broader shift in data centre economics. AI workloads are driving developers toward facilities designed for dense GPU clusters rather than conventional racks, increasing the importance of power availability, resilient fibre networks and specialist operational capabilities from the earliest stage of development.
Bayobab Links New Compute Capacity to Pan-African Fibre
Connectivity is a central part of MTN’s strategy. Bayobab operates digital infrastructure that links markets across the continent, giving Africa Data Hub a route to connect future facilities with enterprises, cloud providers and international networks.
MTN said the platform is designed to support hyperscalers, cloud providers, enterprises and technology innovators. For those customers, a data centre is only useful if large volumes of information can move reliably between facilities, users and external cloud regions. Integrating data centre development with an established connectivity network can therefore shorten the route from physical construction to commercial utilisation.
The model could also support multi-market deployments. Customers expanding across Africa often face fragmented infrastructure and differing levels of data centre maturity. A platform combining common development expertise with regional connectivity could offer a more consistent route into several markets.
AI Infrastructure Becomes a Core Part of MTN’s Ambition 2030
The transaction sits within MTN’s Ambition 2030 strategy, under which digital infrastructure is becoming a larger part of the group’s long-term growth model. MTN is positioning itself not only as a connectivity provider but as an infrastructure platform supporting cloud, enterprise and AI-enabled services.
That strategy arrives as Africa’s AI adoption begins to increase the need for local compute. The continent still has materially less data centre capacity than North America, Europe or parts of Asia, creating an infrastructure gap as digital services expand.
Africa Data Hub gives MTN a dedicated vehicle for closing part of that gap while sharing development and investment requirements with a specialist partner. The immediate commercial milestones will be the selection of specific sites, securing power and planning approvals, and converting the South African and Nigerian pipeline into construction-ready facilities.
If the platform succeeds in its first two markets, MTN’s existing footprint provides a pathway for expansion into other African economies where cloud adoption, enterprise digitisation and AI workloads are creating demand for locally hosted infrastructure.
