Maser’s $1.6bn Africa bet targets land, power and data

Dubai-based consumer electronics maker, Maser Group, plans to invest $1.6 billion across Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya over the next two years, betting that Africa’s widening digital infrastructure deficit and food security pressures will unlock long-term growth opportunities.

But beneath the surface, the move signals something more strategic, a pivot from selling appliances to controlling hard infrastructure assets like land, power, food and data capacity.

Maser’s planned expansion into data centres and large-scale agriculture reflects a growing trend among global investors who see Africa not just as a consumer market, but as a frontier for asset-backed infrastructure plays at a time of rising global uncertainty.

Prateek Suri, founder and chairman, said the company has already deployed about $300 million on land acquisitions and related projects, laying early claim to assets that underpin both farming and digital infrastructure. Most of the new funding will come from Maser’s investment arm, MDR Investments LLC, alongside China-backed Chia Ventures Co.

The strategy is telling. Consumer electronics is a low-margin, highly competitive business, increasingly squeezed by Chinese manufacturers and slowing global demand. By contrast, Africa’s shortages of food, computing power and digital infrastructure offer scarcity-driven returns, particularly for investors willing to absorb early-stage risks.

Nowhere is this more evident than in data centres.

Africa currently accounts for a fraction of global data centre capacity, even as demand from fintech, cloud computing, streaming services and artificial intelligence surges. Industry estimates suggest installed capacity on the continent could rise from roughly 0.4 gigawatts today to 2.2 gigawatts by 2030, requiring up to $20 billion in investment.

Nigeria is emerging as a focal point. A recent report by Verraki Partners projects the country’s data centre market could reach $2.7 billion by 2035, with installed capacity expected to jump to over 400 megawatts within three to five years, from about 65 megawatts to 86 megawatts in 2025.

This rapid expansion has triggered what analysts describe as a data centre gold rush, as developers race to secure land, power access and fibre connectivity, often years before demand fully materialises.

Suri said Maser is already in talks with potential Taiwanese partners to jointly develop data centres across Africa, reflecting a broader push to bring in technical expertise and mitigate execution risks in a market where reliable power supply and regulatory clarity remain key constraints.

At the same time, Maser’s agriculture push taps into another structural gap. Africa imports billions of dollars’ worth of food annually despite vast arable land, making large-scale farming both a commercial opportunity and a political priority for governments seeking food security.

Through public-private partnerships in countries including Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and Rwanda, MDR Investments is positioning itself at the intersection of state-backed development goals and private capital returns.

Still, the strategy is not without risk. Data centres are capital-intensive, power-hungry assets in a region where electricity shortages, currency volatility and policy shifts can quickly erode returns. Agriculture, meanwhile, remains exposed to climate risk, logistics bottlenecks and land governance issues.

For Maser, however, the bet appears clear, in a world hungry for food and data, owning the infrastructure that supplies both may prove more durable than selling the devices that consume them.