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Doha is steadily cementing its position as a competitive player in the global AI and technology race, supported by strategic investments from the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), according to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).These include the establishment of a $3bn global platform with Blue Owl Capital to accelerate international AI and cloud infrastructure expansion, as well as QIA’s participation in Anthropic’s $13bn funding round, BCG said in its report presented at the Mobile World Congress, which concluded Wednesday.These initiatives underscore Qatar’s commitment to advancing its digital capabilities and align closely with the ambitions of the Qatar Digital Vision 2030, it said in the report “AI Data Centers: An Opportunity in the Middle East”.“Qatar’s digital ambition is rapidly taking shape, driven by decisive leadership and a deep commitment to innovation. In line with Qatar National Vision 2030 and Qatar’s Third National Development Strategy, the country is harnessing AI and emerging technologies to cement its role as a competitive force in the global digital economy," said Harold Haddad, managing director and senior partner.The report revealed that the Middle East is rapidly positioning the region as a rising global nexus for AI data centre investment and innovation. As global demand for AI infrastructure accelerates, with data centre power needs projected to grow from 86GW (Gigawatt) in 2025 to 198GW by 2030, BCG finds that the Middle East has a uniquely competitive advantage in supplying scalable, cost-efficient AI compute capacity.Highlighting that the Middle East is not merely participating in the global AI infrastructure race; it is fast emerging as a critical new hub of AI data centre development; it said the region benefits from distinctive structural advantages.Its strategic geography places it within a 2,000-mile radius of over 3bn people, enabling it to serve Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Global South with non-latency-sensitive AI inferencing at scale.Competitive cost structures, including up to 50% lower leasing rates, low power tariffs, and advanced cooling systems adopted by regional operators, significantly reduce the total cost of ownership, BCG said, adding meanwhile, markets such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia continue to accelerate time-to-market for new data centres through fast-track development, dedicated investment teams, and special economic zone clusters such as Masdar City’s Stargate Campus."This momentum is reinforced by the region’s expansive land availability, scalable power ecosystems, and the planned ~720Tbps Fibre in the Gulf (FIG) submarine cable project," it said.Thibault Werlé, managing director and partner at BCG said the Middle East is undergoing a pivotal transformation as it positions itself to become a global hub for AI infrastructure."With strategic investments, progressive digital policies, and ambitious national visions across Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, the region is building the foundation for scalable, next-generation AI compute," he added.The report outlines major national initiatives shaping the Middle East’s AI infrastructure landscape. Saudi Arabia has launched HUMAIN with a targeted 1.9GW AI data centre capacity, along with partnerships with NVIDIA, AMD, AWS, DataVolt, and Groq to develop multi-hundred-megawatt AI campuses, including the world’s largest AI compute centre.The UAE is advancing a 5GW AI campus in Abu Dhabi under the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership and is importing 500,000 GPUs for regional and US partners, supported by Microsoft’s $15.2bn AI and cloud infrastructure investment."Qatar’s strategic investments complement these national efforts and reinforce a GCC-wide push toward establishing a global AI compute corridor," the report said.With its strategic geography, favourable economics, and ambitious national digital agendas, the Middle East is uniquely poised to emerge as a global AI data centre powerhouse — particularly for regions requiring scalable and cost-efficient AI compute such as the Global South. 

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has highlighted the GCC region’s “comparative advantage” in terms of access to energy that helps it host data centres and cites Qatar's partnership with Blue Owl Capital as an example.“GCC’s comparative advantage in terms of access to energy is helping it unlock major projects to host data centres. Examples include partnerships with Humain and Nvidia in Saudi Arabia, Blue Owl Capital in Qatar, or the US-UAE AI accelerated partnership,” Georgieva said in her meeting with the Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) in Kuwait.Georgieva noted: “The last time we saw each other was during the Spring Meetings six months ago. At the time, trade tensions brought global uncertainty to new highs, contributing to a downward revision in our global growth projections.“Since then, a series of trade agreements and pauses in tariff increases have prevented escalation. Almost all countries subjected to US tariffs have refrained from retaliating. This, combined with the fact that the rest of trade relations among countries remain guided — so far — by WTO rules, allowed us to avoid a full-scale trade war.”In addition, she noted the private sector has shown “impressive” agility and adaptability, front-loading cross-border purchases, adjusting supply chains and pursuing investment strategies aligned with a more complex global environment.And access to finance has eased both for the public and the private sector. As a result global growth prospects are better than feared during our last meeting in April.Yet, they are still worse than pre-Covid and the world economy remains in flux. Major transformational forces are in play, from geopolitics to trade relations, technology and demography, producing new opportunities but also new risks.They steer anxiety in societies and complicate the job of policymakers. Navigating uncertainty is becoming the new normal.She said, “In this environment, risks to the global outlook remain tilted to the downside. Protectionism could lead to escalation of trade tensions, with negative impact on supply chains. Erosion of confidence could constrain consumption and investment. Shocks to labour supply, including from changing immigration policies, could lower growth, especially in countries with aging populations.”Georgieva said the outlook is not homogeneous — while some parts of the world are slowing down, others do better. Growth is expected to accelerate in the Middle East and Central Asia as global headwinds are offset by an increase in oil production, and structural reforms pay off.“As for the GCC, a year ago I said that the GCC ‘remains a bright spot’ despite the numerous shocks.”Since then, global uncertainty has increased, including related to shifts in the global trade system, while oil prices have declined and geopolitical tensions have intensified.“Yet, despite this increasingly challenging environment, the GCC continues to deliver strong and steady performance and is still a bright spot in the world economy. You, the finance ministers and central bank governors of the region, deserve credit for the strong reform momentum underlying this. It is making the GCC more resilient, as evidenced by limited spillovers from tensions and conflicts in the region,” Georgieva said.She noted the impact of higher US tariffs on GCC economies has been modest, with exports to the US ranging from just 0.1% of total exports for Kuwait and up to 8% for Bahrain.“Against this backdrop, we now expect overall GCC growth to accelerate to a 3-3.5% range in 2025 and close to 4% in 2026, supported by the resilience of the non-hydrocarbon economy, the unwinding of voluntary oil production cuts, and the expansion of natural gas production.”Over the medium term, non-hydrocarbon activity is set to remain strong on the back of ambitious reform efforts facilitated by ample policy buffers — both official reserves and those available through sovereign wealth funds. This activity is expected to offset the impact of lower oil prices.But there are risks to this outlook. Oil prices and revenues could be negatively affected by weaker oil demand, driven by elevated economic uncertainty, an escalation of global trade tensions, or deepening geo-economic fragmentation.Additionally, a potential supply glut may emerge as Opec+ continues to unwind voluntary oil production cuts at a time when demand remains weak.“In a downside scenario where oil prices temporarily fall to $40 per barrel, non-hydrocarbon GDP growth in the GCC could slow by 1.3 percentage points, while fiscal deficits could rise significantly. In addition, high global uncertainty could lead to tightening of financial conditions and lower FDI, thereby threatening the economic diversification agenda.“Over the medium term, the outlook remains subject to two-sided risks related to ongoing global structural shifts, such as the energy transition, potential global fragmentation, digitalisation and the use of AI,” Georgieva noted.