MTN partners with UAE investor Tarek Al Ashram to build AI data centers across Africa

MTN, Africa's largest network provider, has agreed to partner with Dubai-based investor Tarek Al Ashram to build data center infrastructure across the continent as demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing capacity grows.

Al Ashram, co-founder of the KKR-backed Gulf Data Hub, will supply financial backing through his investment firm for a newly formed entity called 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," Al Ashram said, adding that Africa Data Hub will help shape that growth.

Africa has one of the youngest and fastest-growing populations globally, yet its AI-supporting infrastructure lags far behind. World Economic Forum figures cited by Bloomberg put the continent's share of global AI data center capacity at under 1 percent.

Al Ashram said he expects demand for data center capacity across Africa to grow substantially as businesses and government institutions find more uses for AI, comparing the opportunity to what the Middle East has experienced.

Africa presents a "similarly compelling opportunity, driven by strong underlying demand, rapidly expanding digital economies and an increasing need for resilient and scalable infrastructure," he said.

For MTN, the partnership fits a broader strategy of diversifying revenue beyond its core telecommunications business, which spans 16 African markets.

"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 Group CEO Ralph Mupita said at an event on Tuesday.

Mupita said the company will begin with a phased rollout, starting with 150 megawatts of AI data center capacity. He did not give a timeline for reaching that figure or say when construction would begin.

The new entity plans to build facilities in Nigeria and South Africa, MTN's two largest markets. The centers are intended to serve MTN's own computational needs while also offering capacity to cloud providers, enterprise clients and public sector agencies.

Mupita said MTN is currently securing land and negotiating power agreements to support the rollout, a process that typically shapes how quickly data center projects can move from announcement to construction.

The push also responds to a wider trend among African governments seeking greater data sovereignty, as more countries push to keep sensitive information processed and stored within their own borders rather than overseas.

Nigeria has in recent quarters become MTN's biggest profit driver on the continent, overtaking South Africa, giving the Lagos market added weight in decisions about where new infrastructure gets built first.

Neither MTN nor Al Ashram's firm disclosed the value of the partnership or a construction timeline for the Nigerian and South African facilities.