UAE business giant Al Ashram joins forces with Africa’s largest network provider to build AI data centers across the continent

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.

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.