MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecom operator, is partnering with Dubai-based investor Tarek Al Ashram to develop a 150-megawatt AI-ready data centre network across Africa, in a move that could position the telecom giant deeper into the continent’s fast-growing artificial intelligence infrastructure market.
The partnership brings together MTN’s pan-African telecom and fibre infrastructure with Al Ashram’s experience in building large-scale data centres in the Middle East.
Al Ashram, co-founder of Gulf Data Hub, which is backed by KKR & Co., will use his investment firm to back the newly formed Africa Data Hub Holding venture, according to a report by Bloomberg published Thursday.
The funding commitment has not been disclosed. However, industry estimates put the potential cost of building 150MW of AI data centre capacity at between $3 billion and $6 billion, depending on the technology, power infrastructure, location and scale of deployment.
The project therefore represents one of MTN’s biggest bets yet on infrastructure beyond traditional telecommunications.
