MTN Group has established Africa Data Hub Holding Limited in partnership with an undisclosed UAE-backed data centre investment platform, as the telecom giant accelerates its plans to expand AI, cloud and digital infrastructure across Africa.
The new company was announced in MTN’s interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2026. The group said the partnership would help fast-track its data centre ambitions and meet growing demand for cloud, enterprise and AI-enabled services across the continent.
Nigeria, South Africa Lead Initial Rollout
MTN said Africa Data Hub will combine its extensive African footprint and infrastructure with international investment and specialist data centre expertise.
The platform will serve as a vehicle for developing and scaling future digital infrastructure opportunities across key African markets, with Nigeria and South Africa selected as priority countries for the initial rollout.
In Nigeria, MTN launched the first phase of the Sifiso Dabengwa Data Centre in Lagos in mid-2025. At the time, the facility was described as the largest data centre in West Africa.
In South Africa, MTN already operates several data infrastructure facilities, including a core switching and transmission hub in Centurion, Gauteng, as well as nodes in Randburg, Cape Town and Mtunzini, KwaZulu-Natal. The Mtunzini facility is directly connected to the 2Africa subsea cable.
MTN Digital Infrastructure said it had continued to advance its data centre strategy, laying the groundwork for an expanded AI-enabled rollout to support accelerating demand for AI, cloud and enterprise services.
MTN Bets Big on AI Infrastructure
MTN began outlining its plans to enter the AI infrastructure market alongside the release of its 2025 full-year results, with the initiative being led by its Digital Infrastructure business.
The company said there is “substantial opportunity” to create value from an AI-enabled data centre network as governments and businesses across Africa rapidly embrace digital technologies.
Mazen Mroué, CEO of MTN Group’s Digital Infrastructure, said Africa Data Hub would position MTN as a key infrastructure partner for organisations seeking AI infrastructure across the continent.
MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita said the company was excited about Africa’s potential and was well positioned to leverage its scale, footprint and brand leadership to capture emerging growth opportunities.
He added that MTN remained committed to accelerating its impact while empowering the people, businesses and governments it serves.
Investment in AI-Native Network Technology
As part of its broader AI strategy, MTN Digital Infrastructure also invested in ORAN Development Corporation (ODC) during the company’s Series A funding round, which raised R721 million in March.
ODC is a pioneer in AI-native RAN and the developer of the US-based Odyssey RAN platform. The company is also developing a Distributed Compute Grid, which MTN describes as an essential AI processing engine for digital and physical infrastructure.
The technology is designed to transform cell sites into high-performance computing hubs capable of supporting autonomous Agentic AI, real-time generative inference and Physical AI applications for national infrastructure.
The funding round was led by Booz Allen, Cisco Investments, Nokia, NVIDIA, AT&T, MTN and Telecom Italia.
MTN said the parties have now moved to “joint implementation planning” to assess priority use cases aligned with its Ambition 2030 strategy.
With Africa Data Hub now established, MTN is positioning itself to capture the continent’s growing demand for data centres, cloud computing and AI services.
The company said significant progress had been made in developing the platform’s investment, operating and partnership model, with the initial rollout expected to begin in Nigeria and South Africa.
