Connect | MENA // Debate: Quiet contenders or hollow hype? Are MENA’s secondary markets ready to deliver on the AI boom?

Digital investment in MENA is often dominated by the hyperscale announcements from the UAE and KSA, but markets like Egypt, Qatar, Morocco, Kuwait, and others are pursuing equally ambitious transformation agendas. These secondary markets offer new demand centers for AI, cloud, and edge services, yet they face significant challenges, including underdeveloped fiber networks, limited colocation capacity, evolving regulations, and capital constraints. This session explores whether these markets can turn strategic vision into operational excellence and deliver the high-performance infrastructure the region needs. The discussion will dive into the region’s investment opportunities, examining which markets have the local demand to sustain growth and whether legacy infrastructure can be upgraded to support world-class digital assets. Participants will also explore the role of local partnerships, the involvement of the public sector, and the financing models that can make these deals viable across MENA.