MTN Nigeria has fired its opening salvo in the country’s lucrative cloud infrastructure race, unveiling the first phase of its $235 million Dabengwa Sifiso Data Center, a bold move that positions Africa’s largest mobile operator as a direct contender in the data hosting market long dominated by independent players.

The new Tier III facility, named after the late MTN Group CEO Sifiso Dabengwa, delivers 4.5 megawatts of IT load across three expansive floors, housing 780 racks at an initial cost of $100 million. Once Phase 2 is completed, the center’s capacity will double to 9MW, with ambitions to achieve Tier IV certification, the gold standard for global data center reliability and redundancy.

“We are going to continue to expand the capacity we have in the data center,” Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria’s CEO, said. “Part of that is the readiness for artificial intelligence and the processing power that AI needs and uses.”

However, MTN will face concerns about carrier neutrality. The company insists its data center is designed to be carrier-agnostic, but its ownership of extensive fiber backhaul networks and telecom-grade infrastructure could deter rival operators from colocating critical assets within its walls.

MTN now enters a fiercely competitive market shaped by incumbents such as Equinix, Rack Centre, Digital Realty’s Medallion, and Open Access Data Centres – players whose neutrality has underpinned their growth and credibility with hyperscalers, fintechs, and multinationals alike.

As Nigeria’s demand for local cloud capacity accelerates under AI workloads, fintech expansions, and data protection mandates, MTN’s entry raises a defining question for the market: will Africa’s largest telco emerge as the trusted local hyperscaler alternative, or will concerns over carrier neutrality limit its ambitions before Phase 2 ever breaks ground?