> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.businessbagel.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# MTN has started building AI data centres in Africa - without saying how much of them it owns
- URL: https://www.businessbagel.com/mtn-africa-data-hub-al-ashram-ai-data-centres/
- Published: 2026-08-28T03:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-28T03:29:59.000Z
- Description: The group has a Dubai partner, a first phase of 150 megawatts and land already under negotiation, and it still will not say how much of the venture it owns.
- Author: Christian Maidman
- Tags: Companies, Business Bagel News, #pick

Africa's largest mobile operator wants a piece of the artificial intelligence build-out without carrying the balance sheet for it. MTN disclosed in its interim results that its digital infrastructure arm has entered a partnership to build AI-ready data centre platforms across the continent, through a new company called Africa Data Hub Holding Limited. The results booklet named no partner, no stake and no rand figure.

## What each side is putting in

The two sides are bringing different things, which is the design rather than an accident. MTN supplies the footprint: 317.7 million customers across the 19 markets where it holds operations, joint ventures or associates in connectivity, fintech or digital infrastructure. It has been buying land and negotiating power agreements so the venture can build out in phases over time. Chief executive Ralph Mupita said MTN will be a minority investor and will partner with third parties that have the skills, rather than fund hyperscale capacity itself.

The capital and the track record come from the other side. Bloomberg named the partner as Dubai-based Tarek Al Ashram, co-founder of the KKR-backed Gulf Data Hub, who is backing Africa Data Hub through his own investment firm. He told Bloomberg that Africa now offers a "similarly compelling opportunity" to the one the Middle East has delivered over the years, driven by demand, expanding digital economies and a need for resilient and scalable infrastructure.

## The first 150 megawatts

Phase one runs to 150 megawatts split between South Africa and Nigeria. The plan is to process MTN's own workloads and rent the rest of the capacity to hyperscalers, other large companies and governments, which increasingly want more control over where their own data sits. MTN expects Africa's enterprise market to be roughly 1.6 times bigger by 2030.

That first phase lands somewhere with very little already standing. Africa houses less than 1% of the world's AI data centre capacity on World Economic Forum figures, despite having the fastest-growing and youngest population in the world. The largest project announced for the continent, a gigawatt facility planned by Microsoft and G42 in Kenya, has not materialised.

Digital infrastructure is not currently the part of MTN that is growing. The unit's consolidated external revenue fell 7.1% to R2.3 billion in the half, on lower international voice traffic and currency volatility. What MTN still has not said is how much of Africa Data Hub it owns, what it has committed, or when the first megawatt comes online.