Abu Dhabi -- Critics warn billions in ‘dumb money’ is being invested without clear strategy or due diligence in an attempt to become an artificial intelligence superpower

he UAE is pouring billions of dollars into AI projects across Africa, entrenching itself in the continent’s digital future.

At the latest G20 leaders’ summit in Johannesburg on 22 November, UAE minister of state Saeed Bin Mubarak Al Hajeri pledged $1bn in AI infrastructure across the continent, signalling the next phase of Abu Dhabi’s attempt to position itself as a global AI power.

New research from The Observer’s Global AI Index shows the scale of that project. Since the launch of ChatGPT triggered a global race for AI dominance, the UAE has announced 20 memoranda of understanding with governments across Africa, for AI-related projects; and $2.2bn in pledged investment to build data centres and cloud computing infrastructure in Africa, in addition to the $1bn pledged at the G20.

Analysts say the UAE wants to become a “middle player” in the technological contest between the US and China. By funding data centres, cloud regions and AI hubs in emerging markets, “the UAE is basically pitching itself as a bridge between the global south’s development needs, and US and western technology,” says academic Dr Oz Hassan.

Analysis from The Observer found existing partnerships with four African governments, including a $90m data centre and cloud computing investment in Angola, and a $1bn AI innovation hub in Accra, Ghana. It has pledged a further 20 partnerships with governments including Rwanda, Senegal and Zimbabwe.

In the 2000s, China returned as the dominant funder of African roads, railways and power plants through its Belt and Road Initiative. Analysts say the UAE’s AI investment drive represents the next chapter – a “digital Belt and Road”, as Hassan puts it.

For African governments, the UAE’s virtually unlimited capital and neutral positioning between the US and China make it an appealing investor, “with fewer political strings than Washington or Beijing”, says Mohammed Soliman from the Middle East Institute. The promise is that the partnerships will bring jobs and further investment.

For the UAE, the investment is a no-brainer. The appeal of these untapped markets includes “cheap labour, places where oversight and the rule of law are lax, and land is cheaper”, says Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

But critics warn that the UAE’s rapid expansion raises concerns about transparency and long-term dependency. “The UAE is somewhat reckless in [its] investment,” says Galperin. “They are less concerned with returns [than they are] in wielding power.”