Ooredoo Group has secured a QAR 2 billion (£410 million) financing deal to accelerate the growth of its data centre and AI business in the MENA region.
The agreement was made with QNB, Doha Bank, and Masraf Al Rayan. The 10-year financing arrangement includes both conventional and Islamic financing options.
Ooredoo has said that the funds will be “allocated to carve out existing data centre assets from Ooredoo’s telecom operations, with a significant portion directed toward expanding capacity and upgrading infrastructure to support the growing demand for AI, cloud services, and hyperconnectivity in the MENA region.”
Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, Group CEO at Ooredoo, said, “The MENA region is one of the fastest growing markets for data centres worldwide, and there is significant untapped potential in AI, cloud services and accelerated computing.
“This financing deal marks a major milestone in our strategic vision for expanding our data centre and AI business, and we are excited to meet the region’s increasing demand while upholding our commitment to sustainable, energy efficient infrastructure.”
Ooredoo currently has 26 active data centres across Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, and Tunisia. The company plans to expand its capacity to over 120 MW through a USD 1 billion investment.
Earlier this year, Ooredoo Group announced a collaboration with NVIDIA, which will see the company leverage NVIDIA’s advanced accelerated computing platform to help enable the AI revolution across the MENA region.
