Telecom operators across Africa are pouring billions of dollars into network upgrades, data centres and cloud partnerships as increased usage of artificial intelligence (AI) begins to pile pressure on the continent’s digital infrastructure.
According to the GSMA Mobile Economy Report 2026, operators are expanding 4G coverage, accelerating 5G rollouts. and upgrading high-capacity fibre backhaul to handle the massive data volumes AI-driven services are generating.
“Operators in Africa are investing heavily in building digital infrastructure that can support the scale and complexity of AI applications,” said GSMA in the report.
AI is placing heavy demands on mobile networks
AI technologies rely on the constant processing and movement of large datasets, placing far heavier demands on mobile networks than traditional digital services such as messaging or video streaming.
To cope with the rising load, telcos are also deploying edge computing infrastructure. This allows data to be processed closer to users rather than in distant global data centres. This reduces delays and improves performance for AI-powered applications.
Investing in Africa’s emerging AI ecosystem
The surge in investment reflects the growing role of telecom networks as the backbone of Africa’s emerging AI ecosystem, which supports numerous applications like precision agriculture, connected health systems, automated manufacturing and digital financial services.
“These investments not only create the technical foundation for AI deployment but also help to overcome Africa’s unique constraints of affordability, geographic spread and uneven access to reliable digital infrastructure,” the report said.
Most of these investments were reported in 2025 by giant telcos operating in the East, West and Southern Africa.
East Africa’s first AI-ready data centre services
Kenya’s Safaricom entered into a strategic partnership with IXAfrica, a hyperscale data centre operator, to provide what the companies described as East Africa’s first AI-ready data centre services.
The facility offers local computing power for enterprises and cloud service providers, reducing reliance on overseas data centres and improving the speed of AI-based services in the region.
The investment is part of Safaricom’s quest to expand Kenya’s digital infrastructure as demand for cloud computing, data storage and AI-powered services continues to grow.
Largest data centre in West Africa launched
In Nigeria, MTN launched the Sifiso Dabengwa Data Centre, a Tier III facility designed to support AI, cloud computing and enterprise digital services.
Described as the largest data centre in West Africa, it offers locally priced services in Nigerian Naira, a move aimed at making advanced computing capacity more accessible and cheaper to local companies and startups.
MTN says the facility will help Nigerian businesses compete globally in areas such as AI development, digital services and large-scale data processing.
Nigeria has become one of Africa’s fastest-growing digital markets, and demand for local data processing capacity has surged as more businesses adopt cloud-based and AI-driven services.
Accelerating development of digital solutions in SA
In South Africa, MTN also entered a strategic partnership with China Telecom and Huawei to strengthen its 5G networks, cloud services, AI and Internet-of-Things technologies.
The collaboration aims to accelerate the development of digital solutions across industries including mining, logistics and industrial automation, sectors where AI-powered monitoring and analytics are increasingly being used to improve efficiency and safety.
AI systems consume vast computing power, electricity
As operators scale investments in infrastructure, AI experts argue that the sector also needs to confront a sharp rise in energy requirements. Artificial intelligence systems, they say, consume vast computing power, particularly when training large machine learning models and running complex real-time applications.
That computing power, Alliance4AI co-founder Alex Tsado, says is delivered through data centres and high-capacity networks that consume large amounts of electricity.
“AI is essentially an energy guzzler because the computing power required to train and run these models is extremely high,” said Tsado, speaking about Africa’s AI ecosystem.
Tsado warned that the continent’s AI ambitions will depend on expanding digital infrastructure and ensuring it has enough reliable and affordable power to support the technology.
‘Must invest in data and energy infrastructure’
“If Africa wants to build a competitive AI ecosystem, we must invest simultaneously in data infrastructure and energy infrastructure,” he said, noting that data centres and AI workloads are among the fastest-growing sources of electricity demand globally.
Beyond infrastructure investments, African telecom operators are also deploying AI internally to transform how their networks are designed and managed.
According to the GSMA report, operators are building in-house expertise in data science and machine learning while deploying AI tools to automate network management and improve operational efficiency.
They are leveraging AI-driven systems for predictive maintenance, intelligent traffic management and automated fault detection to identify problems before they disrupt services.
‘AI simplifies telecom operations and improves customer experience’
In August 2025, Airtel Africa entered a multi-year, multi-million-dollar partnership with Xtelify to deploy an AI-powered software platform across its 14 African markets. It says it simplifies telecom operations and improves customer experience.
The platform automates network management processes, improves service delivery and helps Airtel respond more quickly to network issues and changing customer demand.
“We’re not only simplifying our operations but also accelerating hyper-personalised experiences for our customers,” said Airtel Africa’s Group Chief Information Officer, Jacques Barkhuizen.
‘AI also boosts human potential’
MTN Nigeria is also implementing AI solutions to optimise network traffic and enhance service delivery.
“AI is not just about automation. It’s about boosting human potential, increasingly becoming seamlessly embedded into our daily activities, decisions and experiences, transforming how we live and work,” said MTN Group Digital Infrastructure Chief Executive Officer Mazen Mroué.
