Ooredoo secures QAR2bn financing to build data centres

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Qatar’s Ooredoo Group said on Wednesday that it secured a QAR2bn financing facility from a consortium of local lenders to accelerate the growth of its data centre and artificial intelligence (AI) business.

The 10-year hybrid facility, comprising both commercial and Islamic tranches, was provided by Qatar National Bank, Doha Bank and Masraf Al Rayan, the telecoms firm said in a statement.

Ooredoo plans to use the funds to curve out its data centre operations from its main telecom business. The company will invest a significant portion of the funds to increase the capacity and modernise the infrastructure of its data centres to meet the growing demand for AI, cloud services, and high-speed internet in the MENA region.

“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,” said Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, group CEO of Ooredoo.

“This financing deal marks a major milestone in our strategic vision for expanding our data centre and AI business.”

Ooredoo created a separate company to focus on data centres to advance the region’s digital economy by offering advanced colocation services to large technology companies and businesses. The Qatari telecoms firm will invest $1bn over the next few years to increase its capacity to more than 120 megawatts.

The investment is expected to help Ooredoo’s data centre business better meet the growing demand for cloud services and IT processing power for large technology companies.

Meanwhile, Ooredoo has partnered with hyperscalers, enabling it to offer cloud-based solutions, including Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

Ooredoo joined forces with NVIDIA in June to deploy AI technology at data centres owned by the Qatari telecoms giant in five Middle Eastern countries. The partnership is part of the group’s broader strategy to boost AI infrastructure in the MENA region while enabling enhanced security, optimised performance, and customisation to align with local standards.