MTN Targets South Africa and Nigeria for Major AI Data Centre Expansion with Undisclosed UAE Partner

MTN Group has revealed its plans to prioritize South Africa and Nigeria for the initial phase of its AI-enabled data centre strategy. This initiative is part of MTN's broader 'Ambition 2030' goal to transition from a mobile operator to a technology company, aiming to generate approximately R30 billion in AI-related value over the next five years through internal efficiencies and new infrastructure.

The telecommunications giant also announced a strategic partnership with an undisclosed UAE-backed investment platform, forming 'Africa Data Hub Holding Limited'. This new entity will serve as the vehicle for developing and scaling digital infrastructure across key African markets, combining MTN's extensive continental footprint with international investment and specialized data centre expertise. The identity of the UAE partner is a significant detail, as UAE capital has become a major source of AI infrastructure funding in Africa, with several large-scale projects already underway or planned across the continent.

Further demonstrating its commitment to AI infrastructure, MTN Digital Infrastructure invested in ODC's Series A round, supporting the development of AI-native radio access network and edge intelligence platforms. MTN plans to leverage its vast network of African tower sites to create a distributed AI compute grid, installing open GPU configurations at base stations for both radio network operations and edge AI inference. This strategy recognizes that AI workloads, especially inference, benefit from proximity to data generation, a significant advantage for an operator with thousands of powered and connected sites.

The deployment in South Africa and Nigeria is strategically sound, given they are Africa's largest enterprise markets and where MTN already has a strong infrastructure presence. South Africa alone accounts for about 70% of Africa's IT load. This move is critical in addressing Africa's severe shortage of data centre capacity, as the continent currently hosts only about 1% of global capacity, with projections indicating a need for up to 2.2 gigawatts by 2030, requiring substantial investment.