Middle East and Africa data centres: Gulf gigawatt plans, wartime risk and Africa's next hubs

Live · Third-party estimate

More than 376 MW

Live data centre capacity in the UAE, with 19.2 MW coming online in 2025. Knight Frank says available capacity is limited. As of 14 Oct 2025.

Source: Knight Frank: EMEA Data Centres Report October 2025 (opens in a new tab) Published 14 Oct 2025. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Company statement

1 GW, first 200 MW due in 2026

Stargate UAE compute cluster inside the planned 5 GW UAE-US AI Campus in Abu Dhabi. Built by G42, to be operated by OpenAI and Oracle, with NVIDIA GB300 systems. As of 22 May 2025.

Source: G42: Global Tech Alliance Launches Stargate UAE (opens in a new tab) Published 22 May 2025. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Confirmed · Under constructionKhazna

First 200 MW targeted for Q4 2026

Khazna, G42's data centre arm, told Bloomberg it will deliver Stargate UAE's first 200 MW in the fourth quarter of 2026. No in-service announcement yet. As of 21 Oct 2026.

Source: Enterprise AM (citing Bloomberg): Gulf champions and Western firms are staying the course on AI infrastructure (opens in a new tab) Published 21 Oct 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Reported, not confirmed

5 GW plan being redrawn

Reuters, citing six people, reported that the UAE is revising the 5 GW campus towards more spread-out sites after the Iran war. Stargate UAE's US$30bn, 1 GW first phase is already under construction. As of 11 Sept 2026.

Source: Reuters (via Internazionale): UAE revises AI data center plan after Iranian attacks, sources say (opens in a new tab) Published 11 Sept 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Confirmed · Investment pledge

US$15.2bn, 2023 to 2029

Microsoft's stated spending in the UAE, including its G42 stake, AI and cloud data centres, operations and skills. Microsoft says this is money spent in the UAE, not raised there. As of 3 Nov 2025.

Source: Microsoft: Microsoft's $15.2 billion USD investment in the UAE (opens in a new tab) Published 3 Nov 2025. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Forecast

1,117 MW in 2027

Knight Frank forecast of live IT capacity in Abu Dhabi, up from 434 MW in 2025. It expects Abu Dhabi to become the region's first gigawatt market in 2027. As of Jan 2026.

Source: Knight Frank: Data Centres Global Forecast 2026 (opens in a new tab) Published January 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Live · Official figure

467 MW

Operational data centre capacity in Q1 2026, up from 440 MW in 2025 and 68 MW in 2021, across more than 60 data centres. The ministry does not say whether this is IT load. As of 31 Mar 2026.

Source: Saudi Press Agency (MCIT figures): Saudi Arabia Ranks Second Globally in Data Center Market Attractiveness (opens in a new tab) Published 2 May 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Confirmed · Under constructionHUMAIN and DataVolt

100 MW under construction

First 100 MW of a planned 360 MW first phase at HUMAIN and DataVolt's Oxagon campus in NEOM. Nebius has a preliminary framework to take up to 50 MW, in phases from Q4 2027. As of 21 Oct 2026.

Source: NEOM: HUMAIN and DataVolt advance AI infrastructure framework with Nebius for planned giga campus in Oxagon (opens in a new tab) Published 21 Oct 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Company statement

Region due Dec 2026, 50 MW AI Zone by 2028

AWS says its first Saudi cloud region, more than US$5.3bn of planned investment, is on track for December 2026, and it will make up to 50 MW available in HUMAIN's AI Zone by 2028. As of 31 Aug 2026.

Source: Amazon: AWS to launch first cloud infrastructure region in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by December 2026 (opens in a new tab) Published 31 Aug 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Reported, not confirmed

Azure region opening November 2026

Microsoft's Saudi Arabia East data centre region will open to customers in November, Bloomberg reported. As of 21 Oct 2026.

Source: Enterprise AM (citing Bloomberg): Gulf champions and Western firms are staying the course on AI infrastructure (opens in a new tab) Published 21 Oct 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Company targetHUMAIN

1.9 GW by 2030, 6.6 GW by 2034

HUMAIN (owned by the Public Investment Fund) capacity targets given by its CEO, who put the cost at about US$77bn at market rates. As of 28 May 2025.

Source: DatacenterDynamics: Saudi Arabia's AI co. Humain looking for US data center equity partner, targets 6.6GW by 2034 (opens in a new tab) Published 28 May 2025. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Forecast

617 MW in 2027

Knight Frank forecast of live IT capacity in Riyadh, up from 79 MW in 2025. As of Jan 2026.

Source: Knight Frank: Data Centres Global Forecast 2026 (opens in a new tab) Published January 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Live · Cloud region in service

Microsoft region live since 2022

Microsoft's first global datacenter region in Qatar opened in August 2022. As of 31 Aug 2022.

Source: Microsoft: Microsoft opens first global datacenter region in Qatar (opens in a new tab) Published 31 Aug 2022. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Live · Cloud region in service

Google Cloud Doha, 3 zones

Google Cloud launched its Doha region with three availability zones. As of 3 Apr 2023.

Source: DatacenterDynamics: Google launches cloud region in Doha, Qatar (opens in a new tab) Published 3 Apr 2023. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Reported, not confirmed

35 to 40 MW possible

Globes reported AWS signed a letter of intent for land near Netanya for a data centre of 35 to 40 MW, which could double its Israeli capacity, probably by 2030. Its nearby existing site is 12 MW. As of 13 Nov 2025.

Source: Globes: AWS to double data center capacity in Israel (opens in a new tab) Published 13 Nov 2025. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Company statementVodafone Business

20 MW in 3 years, path to 200 MW

Africa Data Centres Egypt (Vodafone Business, Elsewedy Electric and Cassava): about US$200m for phase one and US$1bn at full capacity. As of 7 Sept 2026.

Source: Vodacom Group: Vodafone Business Redefines Egypt's Largest Data Center and First Sovereign AI Data Center (opens in a new tab) Published 7 Sept 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Reported, not confirmed

5 to 7 mega data centres

Plan outlined by Egypt's ICT minister to build five to seven mega data centres within five years, for service exports by 2030, as reported by Africa AI News. As of 23 Oct 2026.

Source: Africa AI News: Egypt plans 5-7 'mega data centres'; Morocco appoints AI minister (opens in a new tab) Published 23 Oct 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Forecast

32 MW in 2027

Knight Frank forecast of live IT capacity in Cairo, up from 13 MW in 2025. As of Jan 2026.

Source: Knight Frank: Data Centres Global Forecast 2026 (opens in a new tab) Published January 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Reported setback or incident

1 GW plan vs about 3 GW grid

Microsoft and G42's Olkaria plan (initial 100 MW, US$1bn) stalled because a 1 GW site would need about a third of Kenya's supply, President Ruto said. Kenya's tech envoy said reports of a suspension were wrong. As of 7 May 2026.

Source: DatacenterDynamics: Microsoft and G42 data center in Kenya stalled due to lack of power capacity (opens in a new tab) Published 7 May 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Confirmed · Under construction

44 MW

Airtel's Nxtra is building a 44 MW data centre in Tatu City, a special economic zone outside Nairobi. As of 7 May 2026.

Source: DatacenterDynamics: Microsoft and G42 data center in Kenya stalled due to lack of power capacity (opens in a new tab) Published 7 May 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Forecast

70 MW in 2027

Knight Frank forecast of live IT capacity in Nairobi, up from 16 MW in 2025. As of Jan 2026.

Source: Knight Frank: Data Centres Global Forecast 2026 (opens in a new tab) Published January 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Live · Third-party estimate

About 66 MW

Third-party core and shell data centre capacity in Nigeria, late 2024, with several hundred MW in the development pipeline. As of Dec 2024.

Source: Knight Frank: Africa Report 2026/27 (7th edition) (opens in a new tab) 2026/27 edition. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Confirmed · Company statement

US$22m LG3 in Lagos

Equinix's first newly built West African data centre, the first phase of a plan of around US$100m over two years, set to open in Q1 2026. As of 10 Nov 2025.

Source: Equinix: Equinix announces plans for new $22 million data center in Lagos, Nigeria (opens in a new tab) Published 10 Nov 2025. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Confirmed · Company statementKasi

32 MW across four floors

Kasi's Lagos facility, powered by 100 MW of capacity, with 8 MW per floor, as described by the company. As of 18 May 2026.

Source: THISDAY: Kasi set to launch hyperscale AI-ready data centres in Lagos (opens in a new tab) Published 18 May 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Live · Third-party estimate

About two-thirds

Share of Africa's third-party colocation capacity in South Africa, which also hosts most hyperscale cloud deployments. As of 2026.

Source: Knight Frank: Africa Report 2026/27 (7th edition) (opens in a new tab) 2026/27 edition. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Live · Third-party estimateTeraco

Nearly 190 MW

IT load of Teraco, South Africa's largest data centre provider, as reported by Daily Maverick. As of 9 Feb 2026.

Source: Daily Maverick: Major SA data centre expansion plans emerge, set to more than double current power demand (opens in a new tab) Published 9 Feb 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Reported, not confirmed

Well over 1,200 MW

IT load South Africa would reach if announced expansions go ahead, including Cavaleros's planned 360 MW Cape Town and 200 MW Johannesburg campuses. As of 9 Feb 2026.

Source: Daily Maverick: Major SA data centre expansion plans emerge, set to more than double current power demand (opens in a new tab) Published 9 Feb 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Confirmed · Under constructionTeraco

40 MW JB7, R8bn loan

Teraco's JB7 at its Isando campus, funded by an R8 billion syndicated loan, taking Isando to 110 MW of critical load. As of 13 Nov 2024.

Source: Teraco: Teraco announces JB7 and a new R8 billion syndicated loan (opens in a new tab) Published 13 Nov 2024. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Company statementMTN

150 MW

MTN's Bayobab formed Africa Data Hub Holding with a UAE investment platform to build 150 MW of AI-enabled data centres, starting in South Africa and Nigeria. As of 27 Oct 2026.

Source: ETDatacenters: MTN Group to build 150 MW AI-enabled data centers in Africa (opens in a new tab) Published 27 Oct 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.

Projected · Forecast

354 MW in 2027

Knight Frank forecast of live IT capacity in Johannesburg, up from 207 MW in 2025. As of Jan 2026.

Source: Knight Frank: Data Centres Global Forecast 2026 (opens in a new tab) Published January 2026. Accessed 31 Oct 2026.