MTN’s digital infrastructure arm Bayobab said on Thursday it has signed an MoU with US-based AI company Seekr Technologies to offer AI-as-a-service (AIaaS) to private and public organisations across Africa, to include Bayobab’s connectivity services.
Under the MoU terms, Bayobab will leverage the SeekrFlow AIaaS platform to deploy and scale AI models quickly and cost-effectively to augment and enhance existing and future digital and connectivity services.
Bayobab and Seekr will also use the platform to enable digital governance, citizen engagement, and public safety in the public sector, while also providing AI-driven insights for financial services, logistics, and energy in the enterprise space leveraging Bayobab’s data centres and investment programs.
Bayobab CEO Mazen Mroué described the partnership with Seekr as an important step in exploring how AI could accelerate Africa’s digital transformation.
“We see tremendous opportunity in embedding intelligent technologies across our digital infrastructure and services, enabling enterprise innovation and meaningful digital progress,” Mroué said in a statement. “This collaboration unlocks new possibilities for scalable impact across both public and private sectors across the continent.”
According to a study commissioned by SAP and released in June 2025, AI could add US$1.5 trillion to Africa’s economy by 2030.
Bayobab’s partnership with Seekr comes days after Ralph Mupita, president and CEO of Bayobab’s parent company MTN Group, said that AI is potentially the most powerful tool for inclusive growth in Africa, but the continent must act with urgency to overcome the risk of further inequality and the creation a digital underclass.
“We must be obsessed and paranoid about not being left behind,” Mupita said while speaking at the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation (KMF) Inclusive Growth Forum last weekend. “To give African AI initiatives scale and joint success, governments, the private sector and civil society must partner on policy, data governance and skills development. And we must do this without delay.”
Last month, Bloomberg reported that MTN Group is in discussions with US and European companies to develop the infrastructure needed to power AI services, and that the operator will co-fund the required investment
Bloomberg noted Africa accounts for just 1% of global AI data centre capacity – most of it in South Africa – despite having the world’s fastest growing and youngest population.
Cassava Technologies recently announced plans to address that gap by building five “AI factories” across Africa.
