The World Economic Forum says AI could unlock more than $1 trillion in economic and sustainability value across the Middle East and North Africa by 2030, based on two new reports. The WEF announced the findings on 14 October at its inaugural Annual Meeting of Global Future Leaders in Dubai, which runs from 13-15 October. The headline figure depends on the region scaling AI use and building power, water and data-centre capacity to match.
Where the $1 trillion comes from
The first report, Unlocking Value: AI for Resilient Growth in MENA, was developed with Bain & Company. It splits the total into five buckets:
- Up to $200 billion in sustainable financing through the financial sector
- $370 billion in sustainable investment flows enabled by the public sector
- $250 billion in long-term asset losses avoided
- $90 billion in added valuation for the energy sector through better sustainability performance
- $100 billion in sustainable projects launched through cross-sector partnerships
The public sector carries the biggest share, followed by financial services. The report’s case studies show where the work has started. First Abu Dhabi Bank looked at AI for sustainability outcomes in finance, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) did the same for energy.
Bahrain’s Ministry of Sustainable Development built an AI-enabled prototype for government, and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Economy and Planning developed a tool for public-private collaboration.
Adoption trails ambition. The WEF says 89% of sustainability leaders surveyed by the MENA Chief Sustainability Officers Network see high or very high potential in AI for their organisations’ goals. Only 40-55% describe their use of sustainable AI as “piloting” or “scaled”, depending on the use case.
The data-centre bottleneck
The second report, Optimizing Hyperscale Data Centre Infrastructure in MENA, was developed with Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG). The WEF says the region could connect new data centres to the grid within two to five years, against more than 10 years in mature markets, and describes that as a potential competitive edge.
The same report warns the edge could erode. Cooling can account for more than 40% of a data centre’s electricity use globally, and the WEF says extreme heat makes cooling in much of MENA particularly energy-intensive. AI workloads also create sharp, unpredictable demand spikes. The report recommends smarter design, AI-driven operations, advanced cooling and updated regulation so that volatile loads don’t destabilise power and water systems.
“MENA has the resources, investment capacity and ambition to become a major centre of AI-led growth,” said Maroun Kairouz, managing director of the WEF. Nedaa Almubarak, managing director of SRMG Think, said the region is positioned to lead the next wave of digital infrastructure by combining its energy capabilities, investment capacity and technological ambition.
UAE context
The National reports that the UAE leads regional AI investment, citing a $1.4 trillion plan over 10 years under the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership, which includes an AI campus in Abu Dhabi. It also cites a $3.54 billion Abu Dhabi commitment to integrate AI into public services by next year. Neither figure comes from the WEF reports.
What does the $1 trillion figure cover?
It’s the WEF’s combined estimate of economic and sustainability value by 2030, built from five categories including sustainable financing, public-sector investment flows and avoided asset losses.
What does the estimate depend on?
The WEF ties it to wider AI adoption, faster grid connections for data centres and managing rising energy and water demand, particularly for cooling in the region’s heat.
Which organisations feature in the reports?
The case studies cover First Abu Dhabi Bank, Adnoc, Bahrain’s Ministry of Sustainable Development and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Economy and Planning. Bain & Company and SRMG co-developed the two reports.
