MTN Group, Africa’s largest wireless carrier, is in talks with U.S. and European firms to build data centers across the continent to power artificial intelligence services, CEO Ralph Mupita has said.
The Johannesburg-based company will partly fund the rollout and is seeking partners, including hyperscalers such as Microsoft, to co-invest and scale facilities.
MTN has begun work on a $240 million data center in Nigeria and expects to finalize partnerships this year. The company has also assured the Ghana government that it will build its second AI lab in Ghana.
Mupita said the new business unit, Genova, will lease AI computing capacity to companies and governments, forming part of MTN’s push to monetize infrastructure and grow new revenue streams.
This move is in line with what Mupita announced last year, that MTN would embark aggressively on smart partnerships across the globe and leverage resources from its potential partners to advance Africa’s digital transformation.
Africa currently hosts less than 1% of global AI data center capacity, concentrated largely in South Africa. Rival projects include a geothermal-powered facility in Kenya by Microsoft and G42, and Nigerian expansion plans by Airtel’s Nxtra.
MTN is also exploring ways to secure reliable power for its facilities in countries with weak electricity infrastructure.
