News

UAE Digital Technology Spending To Hit $20 Billion By 2026

The contribution of digital tech to the country’s GDP is likely to double within the next decade.

Published

4 years ago

March 28, 2023

uae digital technology spending to hit $20 billion by 2026

Digital technology spending in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — encompassing IT, telecoms, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and robotics — is expected to reach $20 billion over the next three years, according to a recent report by the Boston Consulting Group.

Digital tech is projected to account for 25-30% of global GDP over the next decade. According to BCG, the UAE is expected to double the contribution made by digital to its overall economic output, rising from 9.7% to 19.4% in the next 10 years.

Advances in robotics, automation, and a “historic explosion of data and intelligence” offer significant opportunities for wealth disruption and creation, but may present a steep learning curve for governments.

“The digital economy is not an elective. It marks a profound departure from how economies have historically been organized and regulated. Tackling this brave new world head-on will prove essential to remaining competitive and relevant on the global scene,” says Faisal Hamady, managing director and partner at BCG.

Also Read: ChatGPT Is Accelerating The AI Revolution In The Middle East

Dubai, which seeks to bolster its position as a global digital capital, recently launched the ambitious and far-reaching Dubai Economic Agenda (D33) plan.

The increase in digital technology spending aims to reinvent the Emirate as one of the world’s strongest city economies over the next decade, via a bold program that will support 30 private companies to achieve $1 billion unicorn status.

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.