This factsheet takes a holistic look at AI infrastructure in MENA in Q2 2026. Live AI data centre capacity (section 1) and projects due to go live (section 2) give an overview of AI supply in the region. Compute pricing (section 3) gives insight into demand for AI compute, for training and inference.
Our analysis puts this data into context. Section 4 estimates the returns operators and investors could expect from a new GPU in the region at Q2 prices. For CTOs, CFOs and AI developers, section 5 compares the cost of deployment options and which suits each workload.
Live AI data centre footprint
Estimated data centre capacity that was live at the end of the quarter in each market, for all workloads and for AI, with the number of live facilities. Powered by Signwl Capacity Atlas™: project-level pipeline, with each project's status checked against construction evidence.
The UAE and Israel lead MENA's live AI capacity, with 37% and 30% of the region. All of the AI capacity under construction from projects due by 30 Jun is in Saudi Arabia (ICS Arabia Desert Dragon Riyadh phase 1, section 2); none of it is confirmed live. If it comes online, the region's AI capacity would rise about 1.4 times, with Saudi Arabia holding 42% and the UAE 27%. HUMAIN's Riyadh and Dammam campuses (up to 100 MW each) were due by 30 Jun 2026. A construction start was reported by Bloomberg in August 2025, but no physical works, contractor or go-live had been reported by 30 Jun, so both are counted as no evidence of construction. AWS declared its Bahrain region unavailable on 30 Apr 2026, and its buildings are not counted.
| Country | Live facilities | Live IT, MW | Live AI IT, MW | AI share of live IT | AI watts per person | Share of MENA AI | Live + under construction AI IT, MW | Share of MENA AI, live + under construction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAE | 49 | 375–405 | 23–44 | 9% | 2.1–4.0 | 37% | 23–44 | 27% |
| Israel | 39 | 180–230 | 16–40 | 14% | 1.6–4.0 | 30% | 16–40 | 22% |
| Saudi Arabia | 47 | 135–245 | 14–26 | 11% | 0.4–0.7 | 22% | 47–58 | 42% |
| Qatar | 12 | 44–46 | 1–3 | 4% | 0.3–0.9 | 2% | 1–3 | 1% |
| Bahrain | 6 | 6–17 | 0–1 | 4% | 0.1–0.8 | 1% | 0–1 | 1% |
| Oman | 12 | 14–28 | 0–3 | 7% | 0.1–0.6 | 2% | 0–3 | 2% |
| Egypt | 30 | 29–73 | 1–3 | 4% | 0.0 | 2% | 1–3 | 2% |
| Other MENA† | 67 | 43–125 | 2–6 | 5% | 0.0 | 4% | 2–6 | 3% |
| MENA | 262 | 826–1,169 | 57–126 | 9% | 0.2–0.4 | 100% | 90–158 | 100% |
Sources and methodology. Signwl Capacity Atlas™ combines Signwl's data centre register, operator and regulator disclosures, market reports and AI server import data to estimate live and under-construction IT and AI capacity.
†Morocco, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Tunisia and Algeria.
Status of projects due to go live by 30 Jun 2026
Publicly announced data centre projects that were due to be live by the end of the quarter, and whether each has been confirmed live. Powered by Signwl Capacity Atlas™: project-level pipeline, with each project's status checked against construction evidence.
Of 763 MW publicly announced for completion by 30 Jun 2026, 4 MW is confirmed live, 65 MW is under construction and 694 MW shows no evidence of construction. 317 MW of the total is in Saudi Arabia and Qatar; a further 264 MW is due in Q3 on announced dates.
1.Now expected 2027 (Moroccan government memorandum, Apr 2026); phase 1 re-scoped to 16 MW at Nouaceur.
2.Now expected 2027 (SoleCrypt, Feb 2026).
Sources and methodology. Signwl Capacity Atlas™ tracks publicly announced projects with a stated MW and a due date, and checks their status against operator, contractor and regulator evidence of events dated on or before the quarter-end. Under construction means physical works have been reported within the previous 12 months but the capacity is not confirmed live. Projects are shown at their originally announced capacity and date; any project not confirmed live by the quarter-end is behind its announced schedule, and announced revised dates are footnoted.
Compute pricing: on-demand and spot
Hourly GPU rental prices from the major cloud providers in MENA, on demand and on spot (Q2 2026 averages of daily prices). Spot is spare capacity sold at a discount, so its gap to on-demand signals demand. No discount points to a tight market, a narrowing one to tightening, and a widening one to growing spare capacity. Powered by Signwl GPU Price Index™: daily on-demand, reserved and spot prices for 20+ GPUs across 40+ metros.
GB200 and H200 spot averaged above on-demand in Q2, so they show no spot discount; Signwl analysis rates demand for them as High. A10G also shows high demand, with the lowest discount in the Tel Aviv market, where spot averaged $0.65 in Q2, 31% below on-demand. L4 also shows high demand. Between 1 Apr and 30 Jun, spot discounts narrowed for L40S by 9 points, which Signwl analysis reads as rising demand, although L40S stays in the Low band (Q2 average 77%). Spot discounts widened for A10G by 3 points, and L4 from 21% to 44%, which Signwl analysis reads as more spare capacity. Demand is also low for MI300X, V100 and A10, where spot sold at more than 70% below on-demand on average in Q2 (71%, 71% and 77%).
Training GPUs
| GPU | On-demand $/GPU-hr | Spot $/GPU-hr | Spot discount, Q2 average | Daily spot discount, Q2 | 1 Apr → 30 Jun | MENA demand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB200 | 24.16 | above on-demand† | none | 0% → 0% | High | |
| H200 | 14.42 | above on-demand† | none | 0% → 0% | High | |
| H100 | 8.94 | 2.88 | 68% | 68% → 68% | Medium | |
| MI300X | 4.72 | 1.38 | 71% | 70% → 71% | Low | |
| A100 80GB | 3.64 | 1.12 | 69% | 75% → 76% | Medium | |
| V100 | 2.43 | 0.71 | 71% | 71% → 71% | Low |
Inference GPUs
| GPU | On-demand $/GPU-hr | Spot $/GPU-hr | Spot discount, Q2 average | Daily spot discount, Q2 | 1 Apr → 30 Jun | MENA demand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L40S | 2.01 | 0.46 | 77% | 83% → 74% | Low | |
| A10 | 1.39 | 0.32 | 77% | 76% → 77% | Low | |
| A10G | 0.95 | 0.53 | 44% | 44% → 47% | High | |
| L4 | 0.71 | 0.40 | 44% | 21% → 44% | High | |
| T4 | 0.30 | 0.13 | 56% | 57% → 57% | Medium |
Sources and methodology. Signwl GPU Price Index™: Q2 2026 averages of daily list prices from the major cloud providers in MENA. Spot discount compares spot with on-demand in the same market. MENA demand from the Q2 average spot discount: the smaller the discount, the less spare capacity providers have to sell. High: under 50%; Medium: 50–70%; Low: over 70%.
†Spot listed at or above the on-demand price; no discount offered.
GPU economics in MENA
What one GPU in a new MENA build earns over three years when rented out at reserved list prices, after power, facility and maintenance costs. Powered by Signwl Returns Model™: GPU and data centre returns on your own assumptions; Signwl Component Tracker™: RAM, CPU and storage costs bundled into GPU pricing.
Signwl analysis suggests the H100 pays back fastest, after 9.0 months, followed by the GB200, after 10 months. At reserved list prices and 80% utilisation, H100, GB200 and H200 repay their cost within 3 years (300%, 246%, 98%). GB200 and H100 make money at half of list price; the others do not. A100 80GB returns 10% over 3 years, and Signwl analysis suggests MI300X, L40S and L4 do not pay back within a 3-year horizon.
| GPU | All-in cost $ per GPU | Rent, 3-yr $/GPU-hr | Annual price decline | Other costs $ a year | Payback months | Year-1 return | 3-year ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB200 | 54,200 | 10.52 | 25% | 11,185 | 10 | 91% | 246% |
| H200 | 52,220 | 6.26 | 24% | 9,354 | 18 | 42% | 98% |
| H100 | 31,250 | 6.92 | 16% | 6,838 | 9.0 | 117% | 300% |
| MI300X | 48,787 | 3.36 | 15% | 8,508 | 39 | 16% | -8% |
| A100 80GB | 28,783 | 2.28 | 14% | 5,408 | 33 | 22% | 10% |
| L40S | 12,842 | 0.90 | 25% | 2,687 | 43 | 3% | -16% |
| L4 | 6,909 | 0.36 | 21% | 1,191 | 62 | -2% | -42% |
Sources and methodology. Signwl Returns Model™ estimates the return on one new GPU in MENA, bought for cash and rented at Q2 2026 reserved list prices, using Signwl price and depreciation data (at 30 Jun 2026) with published hardware, power and facility costs; hardware prices and the power tariff are those published on or before 30 Jun 2026. Hardware is priced at US dollar list prices, the market the region buys from.
AI deployment cost comparison
The monthly cost of running two typical AI workloads on models that keep processing inside MENA: an API, or an open model on rented MENA GPUs. Only APIs and GPU instances available in the region are included. Powered by Signwl Compute Outlook™.
For high-volume simple tasks at 1bn tokens a month, Amazon Nova Pro costs $1.0k, $304 more than running an open model on frontier GB200 GPUs, and Amazon Nova Lite costs $78, $139 less than running an open model on the cheapest suitable GPU, MI300X.
For complex reasoning and agents at 1bn tokens a month, Amazon Nova Pro costs $1.3k, $974 less than running an open model on frontier GB200 GPUs and $616 more than running an open model on the cheapest suitable GPU, MI300X.
Monthly cost at 1bn tokens a month (bars scaled within each workload; all options processed in MENA)
- Ready-made service (in-region API)
- Open model, self-hosted on rented MENA GPUs
Best available
Lowest cost
Sources and methodology. Signwl Compute Outlook™ compares in-region API list prices with self-hosting open models on rented MENA GPUs, using published benchmark throughput. Only models processed in a MENA cloud region at 30 Jun 2026 are included; the in-region per-token APIs at that date were Amazon Nova Lite and Nova Pro (AWS UAE), so Nova Pro is both the best available and the lowest-cost ready-made service for complex work. Best available here means the in-region ready-made option at 30 Jun, not a quality ranking. Nova availability and list prices are from AWS documentation and price lists dated on or before 30 Jun; two of the three AWS UAE availability zones were impaired from March 2026. Self-hosted cost scales with the GPU-hours used. Excludes start-up time and engineering and operations costs, and assumes GPUs are available when needed.
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