The news comes as MTN Digital Infrastructure confirmed the identity of its UAE-based partner: Dubai-based data centre developer Tarek Al Ashram, founder of Gulf Data Hub. MTN’s half-year results for the six months to 30 June 2026 disclosed that MTN Digital Infrastructure had, after the reporting period, entered a strategic partnership with a UAE-based data centre investment platform “to accelerate the development of AI-ready digital infrastructure platforms across Africa.” The deal is being pursued through a new joint entity, Africa Data Hub Holding Limited, which MTN says will be used to develop and scale future digital infrastructure projects in African markets, starting with South Africa and Nigeria. Mupita has now confirmed the scope of phase one. “For now, only in South Africa and Nigeria, we are in that partnership, looking at 150MW as phase 1,” he said. “We will build out as demand requires.” Al Ashram and Bayobab join the platform The UAE-based investment platform was founded by Al Ashram, described by MTN as “an experienced data center developer, operator and investor with an established track record across the Middle East.” Al Ashram founded Gulf Data Hub, a UAE colocation provider, in 2011. “Over the past years, we have seen firsthand how the development of world-class data centre infrastructure can support the rapid growth of cloud, digital services and AI across the Middle East,” Al Ashram said. “We see significant potential to bring our experience in developing and operating large-scale data centre platforms to African markets, and Africa Data Hub Holding Limited provides the right platform through which to invest in and help shape that growth.” Bayobab, MTN’s digital connectivity business, is also a shareholder in the partnership, and will provide open access connectivity and go-to-market support through its pan-African network.
Mazen Mroué, CEO of MTN Group Digital Infrastructure, said the partnership brings “investment, infrastructure expertise, connectivity and market access into a single platform capable of supporting hyperscalers, cloud providers, enterprises and technology innovators across Africa.” MTN takes a minority position MTN will hold only a minority stake in the venture. “For data centres, our approach is to partner with third parties with the necessary skills and capabilities,” Mupita said. Al Ashram’s platform will provide the bulk of the capital and technical expertise, drawing on experience developing data centres in the UAE and other Gulf markets. The structure fits a pattern playing out across the continent, where telcos are increasingly bringing in specialist data centre investors rather than building AI infrastructure alone.
It also lands squarely on the capital-availability and de-risking questions that development finance institutions and private investors have been navigating as they weigh African digital infrastructure deals – though in this case MTN has opted for a private Gulf investor rather than DFI capital. Building on an existing footprint In Nigeria, the buildout extends MTN’s existing digital infrastructure, including the first phase of the Sifiso Dabengwa Data Centre in Lagos. MTN Digital Infrastructure has also taken a strategic stake in ODC’s Series A funding round, backing AI-native radio access network and edge intelligence platforms, with the two companies now progressing joint implementation planning.
That sits alongside a broader thesis MTN set out in May, when group CTIO Charles Molapisi described converting the operator’s African tower estate into a distributed AI compute grid by installing GPU configurations at base station sites to run edge inference alongside the radio network. The deal also lands against a stark capacity backdrop: Africa is home to roughly 18-20% of the world’s population but holds under 1% of global data centre capacity, according to the World Economic Forum. Most of what exists is concentrated in South Africa, which hosts the continent’s established hyperscale and colocation hubs.
That gap is central to the argument for treating power availability as core to where digital infrastructure can grow across the continent, a dynamic already shaping investment decisions elsewhere in the market, including MTN’s own. An ITW Africa theme The financing structure behind MTN’s move, a telco-led, minority-stake partnership with external data centre capital, is exactly the kind of deal ITW Africa 2026 is built to unpack. The event’s Digital Infrastructure Investment Day includes a workshop on scaling digital infrastructure capital with DFI and investor voices from Swedfund, Finnfund and Unicorn Factory, and a session on building cross-market AI partnerships and shared infrastructure that will explore financing structures and bankability for exactly this kind of regional AI buildout.
A separate workshop on Nigeria’s digital infrastructure opportunity will examine where investment is flowing across the country’s fibre, data centre and cloud ecosystem, and what Nigeria’s 2027 Data Localisation Directive could mean for AI and data centre investment specifically. ITW Africa 2026 takes place 7-10 September in Nairobi. RELATED STORIES Africa’s digital infrastructure ambition has a power problem AFC’s Ilias Djouai on financing Africa’s next infrastructure boom What is a DFI, and how does it finance Africa’s digital infrastructure?
ITW Africa 2026 07 September 2026 Africa’s leading connectivity event, uniting key leaders and decision-makers across the entire value chain. Whether you’re involved in carriers, data centres, content, cloud, finance, satellite, or the vendor community, ITW Africa is the event to attend. Register now See event details Saf Malik Senior Content and Insights Manager