UAE to spend $57.6B on tech and telecom in 2026, led by AI and cloud

This forecast quantifies what’s visible anecdotally: Gulf states, and the UAE in particular, are gearing up to be overprovisioned rather than under‑provisioned on AI infrastructure. A USD 57.6 billion ICT market with fast‑growing data‑center and 5G segments means that hyperscalers and regional players alike will have ample capacity to host frontier‑model workloads and specialized AI services.([fintechgate.net](https://fintechgate.net/2026/03/09/57-6-%D9%85%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A5%D9%86%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%8B-%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%82%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%8B-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA/))

Strategically, it reinforces the UAE’s bid to become a regional AI hub, competing not just on data centers but on regulatory openness and state‑backed demand. For global chip and cloud vendors, this concentration of capex offers an attractive beachhead for Middle East and Africa—but also raises the risk of overbuild if AI demand in the region grows more slowly than forecasts. The mention of Ericsson’s estimates on ICT opportunities hints at telecom vendors viewing AI as core to their own growth narratives, not just an overlay on existing networks.

For the AGI race, the significance is infrastructural: AGI‑class systems will be extraordinarily power‑ and bandwidth‑hungry. Regions that lock in abundant, relatively cheap AI‑optimized compute and connectivity early could become natural homes for large‑scale training and inference clusters, influencing where the most advanced research and deployment happens.