MTN to build 150MW of AI data centres across Nigeria and South Africa

MTN Group will develop AI-enabled data centres with an initial capacity of about 150 megawatts (MW) across Nigeria and South Africa through a new venture backed by an unnamed UAE-based investor. The Johannesburg-headquartered operator disclosed the plan on 26 August 2026, according to Nairametrics.

The project will run through a new entity called Africa Data Hub Holding Limited, formed after a strategic partnership between MTN Digital Infrastructure and an undisclosed UAE-backed data centre investment platform. MTN said in its H1 2026 results that the venture combines its African footprint, market knowledge and infrastructure assets with international investment backing and specialist expertise from the UAE partner.

MTN will be a minority investor in Africa Data Hub, with the UAE-backed partner expected to provide most of the capital and draw on its experience building data centres in the UAE and other Gulf markets. No financial value for the venture has been publicly disclosed, and the identity of the UAE-backed investor remains undisclosed, according to Purveyor.

The 150MW initial phase is positioned as a starting point, with further expansion dependent on market demand for AI-related computing and cloud services. The facilities are described as AI-enabled, designed to support high-density, GPU-based compute workloads for AI training and inference, alongside cloud and enterprise services.

MTN identified South Africa and Nigeria as the priority markets for the first phase of its data centre strategy, aligning with its Ambition 2030 objective of becoming a leading digital infrastructure and platform player. The venture is explicitly intended as a pan-African platform for AI-ready infrastructure, with potential future expansion into other MTN markets, ITWeb reported.

The announcement follows earlier moves by MTN. In September 2025, Bloomberg reported that CEO Ralph Mupita was in talks with US and European firms to co-develop AI data centres across Africa. MTN has also broken ground on a $240 million AI data centre in Nigeria under its Genova unit, with plans to lease capacity to African businesses, governments and global cloud providers such as Microsoft, according to Ecofin Agency coverage. The Africa Data Hub partnership appears to be a post-H1 2026 evolution of that strategy.

The scale of the planned capacity is significant. Nigeria's total data centre capacity was projected in a 2025 report to reach about 218MW by 2030, Nairametrics reported. MTN's planned 150MW across Nigeria and South Africa therefore represents a substantial share of that trajectory, potentially accelerating availability of high-density, AI-ready compute in West and Southern Africa.

The venture also lands amid a push by Nigeria's National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), which recently inaugurated a taskforce to drive implementation of a sovereign cloud policy. Locally located AI infrastructure could lower latency and reduce dependence on overseas clouds for startups, fintechs, healthtech players and government digital projects.

For the broader ecosystem, the UAE-backed investment reflects a wider trend of Middle Eastern capital flowing into African digital infrastructure — Microsoft and Abu Dhabi's G42 have backed a geothermal-powered data hub in Kenya, while Equinix and other global players are expanding in South Africa. That intensifies competition with existing facilities in Lagos and Johannesburg, potentially lowering costs but also raising questions about data sovereignty and control of critical infrastructure.

"Africa Data Hub Holding Limited will serve as the platform through which future digital infrastructure opportunities will be developed and scaled across key African markets," MTN Group said in its H1 2026 results.

MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita had earlier signalled the direction of travel. In a Bloomberg interview reported by Ecofin Agency, he said: "We are now in the commercial negotiation phase and shortlisting partners who can help us scale."

Site selection, environmental and regulatory assessments in Nigeria and South Africa are the next steps before construction begins, according to Nairametrics. Specific sites and timelines have not yet been fully disclosed. Existing data centre, power, environmental and data protection frameworks in each country are expected to govern the buildout, with no formal regulatory directive yet issued specifically for Africa Data Hub.

Lagos and Johannesburg are likely focal points for the first buildouts, reinforcing their status as leading African digital hubs. The scale and AI focus of the centres may attract global AI companies, GPU cloud providers and hyperscalers to place hardware and services in-country rather than serving African users from Europe or the Middle East. Watch for the identity of the UAE-backed investor and the first named construction sites — those disclosures will signal how fast the 150MW plan moves from paper to power.