MTN Group is stepping deeper into Africa’s rapidly expanding artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure market with the establishment of Africa Data Hub Holding Limited, a new platform designed to accelerate the development of AI-ready data centres across key African markets.
The initiative brings together MTN’s extensive African footprint, digital infrastructure assets and market expertise with international investment and specialist data-centre capabilities, positioning the telecommunications group to play a larger role in the physical infrastructure needed to power Africa’s next phase of digital growth.
The new platform follows a strategic partnership between MTN Digital Infrastructure and a UAE-backed data-centre investment platform. MTN is expected to hold a minority position in the venture, while its international partner will provide significant capital and specialist data-centre expertise.
South Africa and Nigeria to lead the first phase
South Africa and Nigeria have been identified as the priority markets for the initial phase of the development, reflecting the scale of digital activity and growing demand for cloud, enterprise and AI computing infrastructure in both markets.
The initial development is expected to target approximately 150MW of data-centre capacity across the two countries, with future expansion expected to be driven by demand.
For MTN, the move represents an evolution beyond traditional telecommunications infrastructure as businesses, governments and consumers across Africa increasingly depend on computing power to support cloud services, artificial intelligence, digital platforms and data-intensive applications.
Mazen Mroué, Chief Executive Officer of MTN Group Digital Infrastructure, said the growth of AI and cloud services was creating a new infrastructure opportunity across the continent.
“Africa’s digital economy is entering a new era driven by rapid advances in AI, cloud adoption, and digital innovation.”
He noted that realising the opportunity would require more than connectivity, pointing to the need for infrastructure platforms capable of supporting the next generation of digital services, businesses and innovation.
Building the infrastructure behind Africa’s AI economy
The establishment of Africa Data Hub comes as demand for cloud computing, local data hosting and AI workloads continues to grow across African commercial centres.
AI applications require significantly greater computing capacity than many traditional digital workloads, making access to reliable data centres, electricity, cooling and high-capacity connectivity increasingly important to the continent’s digital transformation.
The new platform is therefore expected to combine data-centre development with MTN’s wider digital infrastructure ecosystem.
MTN’s pan-African connectivity business, Bayobab, will contribute open-access fibre connectivity and go-to-market support to the venture, providing an important connectivity layer for the planned infrastructure.
The partnership also gives MTN an opportunity to leverage external investment and specialist expertise while limiting the amount of capital it would need to deploy independently for large-scale data-centre developments.
From connectivity to computing
The move reflects a broader shift in MTN’s infrastructure strategy.
The company has increasingly positioned digital infrastructure—including fibre, cloud capabilities, data centres and emerging distributed-computing technologies—as an important growth opportunity alongside its traditional connectivity and fintech businesses.
Its existing infrastructure and large customer footprint provide a potential ecosystem for the new data-centre business, connecting telecommunications networks with the computing capacity required by enterprises and digital services.
For African businesses, the expansion of local AI-ready infrastructure could also mean greater access to computing resources closer to where data is generated and consumed.
This could support applications ranging from artificial intelligence and cloud computing to enterprise software, financial technology and other data-intensive services.
A growing African infrastructure opportunity
The development comes at a time when global technology companies and infrastructure investors are increasing their focus on Africa’s data-centre market.
As more African organisations adopt AI and cloud technologies, demand is expected to grow for infrastructure that can provide reliable computing capacity while addressing requirements around connectivity, latency, resilience and data localisation.
MTN’s partnership seeks to position the group within that emerging market by combining its continental presence with international data-centre investment and expertise.
The initial focus on South Africa and Nigeria gives the venture access to two of Africa’s largest digital economies, while the platform itself has been established with the potential to develop and scale opportunities across other African markets.
For MTN, Africa Data Hub marks a significant step into a part of the digital economy that is becoming increasingly strategic: the infrastructure that makes AI and cloud services possible.
As AI adoption accelerates across the continent, the availability of local, scalable and resilient computing infrastructure will increasingly determine how effectively African businesses and institutions can participate in the next phase of the digital economy.
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