Middle East & Africa: $100B+ AI and Data Center Buildout Redefines the Region
How power, policy, and sovereign capital turned AI infrastructure ambition into execution across MEA in H2 2025
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From multi-gigawatt sovereign AI platforms in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to renewable-powered GPU campuses in North Africa, H2 2025 marked a turning point for the Middle East & Africa.
Pipeline ambition turned into execution, as hyperscale-adjacent cloud nodes emerged and AI infrastructure became sovereign, strategic capacity.
We saw:
$100B+ in AI and data center commitments across the Gulf, North Africa, and select Sub-Saharan markets, with multi-gigawatt targets now standard
AI infrastructure embedded in industrial policy, as Vision 2030–style strategies elevate compute to sovereign infrastructure
SWFs, state telcos, and private platforms converging, forming capital-rich, execution-first build vehicles
Africa’s hyperscale-adjacent layer emerging, spanning renewable campuses, subsea cable landings, and local cloud deployments
Power now the primary constraint, overtaking capital, with policy alignment deciding winners and laggards
H2 2025 wasn’t about proving intent. It was about operationalizing sovereignty at scale.
This is your MEA recap of the 12 most important shifts and what they signal for the next phase of global AI infrastructure deployment.
Here’s What’s Inside
Top 12 regional moves ranked — from Saudi Arabia’s 6GW sovereign AI push to Morocco’s 500MW renewable GPU play
5 infrastructure trends — sovereign compute, REIT/JV capital stacks, GPU corridors, energy-as-moat design, AI-native builds
5 emerging opportunities — GPU campuses, sovereign cloud JVs, renewable AI export hubs, Tier-II colo growth, powered-land banking
5 regional shifts — Saudi leads ambition, Abu Dhabi merges power + compute, Lagos nears hyperscale, North Africa links to Europe, East Africa consolidates connectivity
5 binding constraints — power limits, GPU access gaps, policy execution risk, climate/water stress, talent shortages
Top 12 MEA Announcements (H2 2025)
Below are the most impactful strategic moves shaping the Middle East & Africa data center sector in the second half of 2025, ranked by strategic impact, execution credibility, and long-term market implications.
1) Saudi Arabia: HUMAIN advances a 6GW AI data center platform
HUMAIN’s program crystallized in H2 as the region’s first credible multi-gigawatt, AI-native data center platform. The model integrates power, land, and sovereign alignment rather than relying on speculative tenant demand. Its scale confirms Saudi Arabia’s shift from opportunistic colocation to state-backed compute infrastructure. Execution risk remains material, but policy sponsorship materially lowers downside. [Read here]
2) Brookfield and Qai operationalize a $20B AI infrastructure JV in Qatar
The Brookfield–Qai joint venture moved from announcement to execution focus, pairing institutional capital with a sovereign AI mandate. The structure mirrors North American hyperscale financing but embeds state-backed demand and governance. Qatar’s intent to compete directly with UAE and Saudi AI hubs became explicit. Capital is abundant; delivery speed is the constraint. [Read here]
3) Microsoft deepens its $15.2B UAE AI and cloud commitment
Microsoft’s UAE program matured into a platform-level deployment, reinforcing the country’s Tier-1 status for AI infrastructure. The investment reflects confidence in regulatory stability, power availability, and sovereign alignment. It continues to anchor secondary ecosystem investment across cooling, grid equipment, and talent. This is long-cycle platform capital, not incremental capacity. [Read here]
4) xAI, HUMAIN, and NVIDIA move forward on a 500MW Saudi AI facility
The partnership between xAI, HUMAIN, and NVIDIA advanced from concept toward execution, combining frontier models, sovereign platforms, and chip supply in a single stack. The project reflects Saudi Arabia’s strategy of vertically integrating AI capability rather than hosting third-party capacity. GPU access is the binding differentiator. Replicability outside the Kingdom remains limited. [Read here]
5) Khazna secures $2.62B to accelerate regional expansion
Khazna’s financing closed as one of the largest single data center capital raises in MEA history. The transaction signaled lender comfort with sovereign-aligned tenants and long-dated cash flows. Khazna is transitioning from national champion to regional consolidator. Balance sheet scale is now a competitive weapon. [Read here]
6) G42 advances a 200MW Stargate data center buildout
G42’s Stargate project moved decisively into construction planning, operationalizing the UAE’s sovereign AI vision. The scale points to hyperscale-grade demand rather than pilot deployments. Execution velocity will determine whether Stargate becomes a durable regional platform or remains symbolic. Power integration remains the critical variable. [Read here]
7) Saudi center3 formalizes a 1GW capacity roadmap
center3’s 1GW target gained clarity in H2, underscoring the growing role of telecom-affiliated platforms in national AI infrastructure. Its advantage lies in fiber control, land access, and regulatory alignment rather than pure capital. The model is increasingly attractive to hyperscalers seeking local partners embedded in national networks. [Read here]
8) Morocco advances execution on 500MW renewable-powered data center plans
Morocco’s 500MW strategy progressed beyond signaling, leveraging renewable overcapacity and proximity to Europe. While execution risk persists, the project offers one of the region’s clearest power-cost arbitrage opportunities. Morocco is positioning itself as an AI export node rather than a domestic-only market. [Read here]
9) Digital Realty establishes its West African beachhead in Ghana
Digital Realty’s first data center in Ghana marks a strategic entry point into West Africa for a global infrastructure platform. While initial capacity is modest, the move validates Ghana as a stable and investible base for multinational operators. It signals confidence in long-term enterprise and cloud demand and lays the groundwork for future clustering in the sub-region. [Read here]
10) Visa activates its first African data center in Johannesburg
Visa’s Johannesburg facility went live amid rising regulatory, latency, and data-residency requirements. The deployment reflects enterprise-driven infrastructure demand rather than pure AI compute. It provides foundational capacity with long-term strategic value for payments, fintech, and financial services ecosystems across Africa. [Read here]
11) Airtel Nigeria progresses a 38MW hyperscale-adjacent facility
Airtel’s Lagos project advanced into buildout, signaling Nigeria’s transition from edge and enterprise facilities toward hyperscale-adjacent infrastructure. Power reliability remains the core risk. If addressed, Lagos is positioned to emerge as a regional AI and cloud gateway for West Africa. [Read here]
12) MTN advances a $240M data center strategy across Africa
MTN’s data center initiative matured in H2, reflecting telcos’ ambition to move up the cloud and infrastructure value chain. While direct competition with hyperscalers is uncertain, the assets materially expand regional capacity. Success will hinge on partnership and interconnection rather than head-on competition with global cloud platforms. [Read here]
Key Regional Trends
1) AI Infrastructure as National Priority
Across the Gulf, AI infrastructure is now treated as strategic state infrastructure rather than commercial real estate. This reclassification has materially accelerated permitting, land access, and financing in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. Compute capacity is increasingly embedded into national development and industrial policy frameworks.
2) Sovereign Platforms and REIT-Style Ownership
Sovereign-backed platforms and REIT-like ownership structures are emerging as the dominant owners of large-scale capacity. Their lower cost of capital and regulatory alignment enable faster, multi-phase deployment than fragmented private developers. Ownership concentration is becoming a defining feature of the MEA market.
3) Renewable-Powered Campuses Gain Momentum
Renewable-powered data center campuses are gaining traction across Africa and North Africa as grid constraints intensify. Morocco and Kenya illustrate how renewable overcapacity can be converted into competitive compute economics. Power availability, not demand density, increasingly determines siting decisions.
4) Hyperscaler Expansion Shifts to Partnerships
Hyperscalers are increasingly relying on partnerships with local platforms rather than greenfield builds. This approach reduces execution and regulatory risk while compressing time to market. As a result, bargaining power is concentrating with a smaller group of local infrastructure owners.
5) Local Developers and Telcos Scale Regionally
Local developers and telecom operators, particularly in Africa, are scaling into regional infrastructure champions. Their control over fiber, regulatory relationships, and early access to constrained power nodes provides a durable advantage. The next phase of growth will favor locally embedded execution over imported development models.
Emerging Opportunities
1) GPU-Dedicated AI Campuses (Saudi Arabia & UAE)
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are emerging as prime locations for GPU-dedicated AI campuses where chip access is sovereign-backed. This reduces supply risk and allows long-term planning for large-scale training and inference. Integrated control over power, land, and GPUs creates defensible national compute platforms. These sites are positioned to attract frontier-model and export-oriented workloads.
2) Sovereign Cloud Infrastructure (Gulf States)
Sovereign cloud platforms in Qatar, the UAE, and smaller Gulf states are expanding rapidly due to regulatory and data-residency requirements. Government-backed demand improves bankability and shortens deployment timelines. These clouds prioritize compliance and control over pure scale. For regulated sectors, they are becoming the default infrastructure layer.
3) Renewable-Powered AI Export Hubs (Morocco, Egypt)
Morocco and potentially Egypt are positioning renewable-powered campuses to serve AI workloads beyond their domestic markets. Proximity to Europe and access to low-cost solar and wind underpin competitive economics. These hubs are designed for training and batch compute rather than latency-sensitive services. Energy access, not market size, drives their appeal.
4) Carrier-Neutral Interconnection Hubs (Nigeria, Kenya)
Nigeria and Kenya are seeing growing demand for carrier-neutral interconnection as hyperscale density increases. These hubs aggregate cloud, enterprise, and content traffic, strengthening regional data gravity. Neutral interconnect becomes the control layer for multi-cloud and AI inference. Over time, these sites evolve into regional digital gateways.
5) Hybrid Public–Private Financing Platforms
Partnerships between sovereign wealth funds and global asset managers are becoming a preferred financing model for AI infrastructure. Sovereign capital lowers funding costs while institutional partners bring execution discipline. This structure supports larger deployments with shared risk. It is particularly suited to capital-intensive projects with long development cycles.
Sector & Geographic Shifts
1) Saudi Arabia Pulls Ahead on AI Compute Ambition
Saudi Arabia is overtaking the UAE in sheer AI compute ambition, driven by multi-gigawatt targets and sovereign-backed execution. The scale of planned capacity signals a shift from regional competition to global positioning. Power, land, and policy alignment are enabling faster ramp-up than peer markets. The Kingdom is setting the pace for AI infrastructure scale in MEA.
2) Nigeria Emerges as Africa’s Primary Growth Market
Nigeria is pulling ahead of South Africa as Africa’s fastest-growing data center market. Population scale, subsea connectivity, and hyperscale-adjacent demand are concentrating investment in Lagos. While grid risk persists, capital and operator focus continue to deepen. Nigeria is becoming the continent’s primary AI and cloud growth engine.
3) North Africa Becomes Europe-Adjacent Compute
North Africa is emerging as a Europe-adjacent compute zone rather than a peripheral market. Renewable energy access and favorable latency routes position Morocco and neighboring markets as AI training extensions of Europe. This shifts the region from edge support to export-oriented compute. The corridor is increasingly competitive with Southern Europe.
4) Telecom-Led Platforms Gain Strategic Weight
Telecom-led platforms are gaining relevance relative to pure-play data center developers. Control over fiber, landing stations, and regulated infrastructure gives telcos structural advantages. As AI workloads scale, integrated network-plus-compute models are proving more resilient. This is reshaping partnership dynamics with hyperscalers.
5) Capital Concentrates into Fewer, Larger Platforms
Capital is concentrating into fewer, larger, sovereign-aligned platforms across MEA. Scale, balance-sheet strength, and policy access are becoming decisive advantages. Smaller, standalone developers are finding it harder to compete on speed and bankability. The market is consolidating around national and regional champions.
Challenges & Gaps
1) Power Availability and Grid Reliability
Power availability remains the primary constraint across MEA. Grid reliability and interconnection capacity vary widely by market, delaying projects even after land and capital are secured. Outside core Gulf hubs, transmission and substation constraints are acute. Power access increasingly determines which developments advance.
2) Uneven and Politicized GPU Access
GPU access is increasingly uneven and shaped by geopolitics rather than pure market demand. Sovereign-backed projects benefit from preferential allocation, while independent developers face long lead times and uncertainty. This raises the risk of stranded infrastructure and delayed monetization. Procurement flexibility is becoming a strategic necessity.
3) Environmental and Water Stress
Hot climates and chronic water scarcity significantly complicate cooling strategies at scale. Traditional evaporative systems face rising regulatory scrutiny, higher operating costs, and sustainability concerns. Operators are being pushed toward liquid cooling, hybrid systems, and heat reuse, increasing upfront complexity. Without climate-adaptive design, long-term operational risk rises materially.
4) Policy Execution Risk Beyond the Gulf
Outside the Gulf, policy ambition frequently outpaces execution capacity. Permitting processes are fragmented, incentives are unclear, and regulatory frameworks can shift mid-development. Even well-capitalized projects face timeline uncertainty. Execution risk remains highly jurisdiction-dependent.
5) Local Talent Shortages
Specialized talent in AI infrastructure covering liquid cooling, power systems, and workload orchestration remains scarce across MEA. Heavy reliance on imported expertise increases cost and slows commissioning. As facilities scale, operational resilience becomes harder to maintain. Building durable local talent pipelines remains an unresolved bottleneck.
The shift from viewing sovereign wealth funds as passive investors to active infrastructure builders is huge. Treating AI compute as strategic sovereignty rather than just commercial real estate totally reframes the power dinamics. I remmeber reading about Gulf states diversifying away from oil but this feels more like positioning for an entirely new geopolitical layer. The integration of capital, power and policy in one unified platform is something Western markets can't really replicate.