News

Phoenix Group & Green Data City Plan Crypto Farm In Oman

The $300 million facility is expected to be fully operational by Q2 2024.

Published

3 years ago

August 26, 2023

phoenix group and green data city plan crypto farm in oman

Muscat-based Green Data City has teamed up with Abu Dhabi’s Phoenix Group to build a $300 million crypto farm facility in the Gulf state of Oman.

The 150-megawatt data farm will be one of the largest crypto-mining centers in the region and is expected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2024.

green data city and phoenix group partnership oman crypto farm

Crypto-mining farms are large facilities filled with racks of PCs sporting high-end GPUs. They are designed to mine cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum using a complex network of software and computers. The process involves solving intricate mathematical calculations to produce new digital currencies — something that requires massive computer resources and lots of electrical power.

Green Data City and the Phoenix Group chose Oman for their mining farm due to the long-term security of the license terms and the comparatively cooler weather in the country’s Dhofar region, which should help to reduce energy consumption.

The first development phase will output 200MW of mining power, while the second phase will reach 400MW, creating a hyperscale data center with downstream activities that will include renewable energy and hydrogen production, desalination, food production, and cosmetics.

Also Read: Help Scout Review: The Only Help Desk Software You’ll Ever Need

The developers will build the new facility in modular sections to reduce environmental impact and intend to install solar shades and employ specialized local technicians.

Oman’s economy is now on a solid footing as the Gulf country forges ahead with its economic diversification initiatives, backed by favorable oil prices and successful fiscal reforms during a time of stable inflation.

News

Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.