The Middle East is fast emerging as a new contender in the data centre industry. During a recent trade mission organised by the Dutch Datacenter Association, Group Development Director, Pieter Schaap, explored the potential of countries like Qatar and Bahrain as future connectivity hubs, delving into the region’s unique challenges and opportunities. Read below for Pieter’s observations and insights.
Qatar: The Switzerland of connectivity?
In recent years, Qatar has made strides towards positioning itself as a leader in digital infrastructure. With its Vision 2030 strategy, Qatar aims to integrate digital infrastructure and therefore data centres as a core economic support pillar. The government’s commitment is clear in their efforts to accelerate the development of data centre facilities and get on a regional pole position to attract international business to come to the GCC.
However, Qatar’s journey isn’t all smooth sailing. The country’s existing infrastructure, including a reliance on oil and gas, must adapt to cater to the demands of modern data centre operations, and achieving international sustainability standards will require huge investment in renewable energy sources. In recent years Qatar has already deployed over 700MW of renewable energy and is developing further solar parks and other renewable energy sources rapidly to provide the hyperscalers their desired sustainable power solutions, or at least an acceptable mix of renewable and traditional energy options.
With a still flourishing hydrocarbon sector, it will be a challenge for Qatar to empower people and businesses to shift their focus to supporting digital infrastructure developments. A quest that is not without bumps in the road. Compared to for example Oman, Qatar is trailing in terms of fibre connectivity and with a dominating gas sector there is not a real sense of urgency to improve subsea cable infrastructure. Similarly for the re-training of supply chain partners and talent in general to focus on datacentre development, hydrocarbon opportunities still take precedence in general.
Despite these challenges, Qatar’s abundance of power and proactive collaboration with international players shows a promising future. Government and semi-government agencies, such as Invest Qatar, have demonstrated its desire and push to attract talent and swift adaptation of new technologies to support the digital infrastructure. Overall, the country is creating a very hospitable environment for data centre developers, and it is clear that Qatar is open for business.
Bahrain: A contender for the hub title?
Historically, Bahrain has had an advantageous position as a regional hub, supported by early data centre investments. AWS’s presence in Bahrain confirms its appeal. With a more traditional focus on its neighbour Saudi Arabia and therefore keeping a close eye on developments in the Kingdom, Bahrain has shown some signs of indecisiveness towards international players on a more strategic level. Where Saudi is deploying MWs and even GWs across the country rapidly, the majority of these developments is to cater for the demand of the national market. Bahrain on the other hand is positioned well to form a digital hub between Saudi on other nations. The window of opportunity for Bahrain is closing quickly nevertheless and momentum is no longer on their side as there are several hundreds of MWs required to connect Saudi and other neighbouring countries to the rest of the world. Qatar’s aggressive pursuit of digital infrastructure could outpace Bahrain’s existing advantages and the flexibility of Qatar’s government to accommodate international players gives it a distinct edge.
Regional opportunities and challenges
The Middle East’s potential to dominate the data centre industry hinges on several factors:
- Talent Development: Training a local workforce skilled in data centre operations.
- Spatial Planning: Revising urban planning strategies to accommodate large-scale data centre facilities.
- Sustainability: Transitioning from a hydrocarbon dominant energy mix to renewables like solar power.
- Supply Chain Transformation: Shifting from oil and gas-focused industries to data centre-ready contractors.
- Legislation: Implementing data sovereignty laws that balance security with connectivity as well providing international companies to option to own properties and land in the GCC.
There was an impressive influence of GCC leadership during the trade mission. High-level figures actively engaged with international tech giants facilitating collaborations that signal a strong willingness to invest in the region’s digital future.
A bright future for Middle Eastern data centres
As multiple countries in the GCC are aiming to get the title of the Middle East’s connectivity hub, their efforts reflect a broader regional ambition to become global leaders in digital infrastructure. Their geographical position will unlock tremendous potential for new markets that are currently less attractive for international developers. With strategic planning, sustainability investments, and international collaborations, the region is well on its way to achieving its vision.
At Soben, we are proud to support these developments, leveraging our expertise to help shape the future of data centres in the Middle East and beyond.
To learn more about how Soben can help you develop your Data Centre projects, contact Pieter on the details below:
Group Development Director
Data Centre Trends: Looking Ahead to 2025
As we approach the release of our 2025 Data Centre Trends Report, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the key insights we shared earlier this year with our 2024 Trends Report.
Our 2024 report brought together expert perspectives from Soben’s data centre specialists across the globe—and in almost twelve months, the industry has continued to evolve at an incredible pace. We’ve reconnected with our teams worldwide to track how these trends have developed and to explore what’s next. Stay tuned for the full 2025 report, where we’ll dive deeper into the forces driving change across the data centre landscape.
In the meantime, click here to revisit our 2024 mid-year report.
