Page 62 - SAMENA Trends - August-September 2025

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

UAE Leaps to No.2 in Global AI Rankings

The United Arab Emirates has been ranked the second most a new study by US-based Technology Resource Group (TRG). The
capable country in the world for artificial intelligence, according to UAE placed ahead of South Korea, China, the UK, and Germany,
with only the United States achieving a higher score. TRG’s ranking
evaluates computing power, the number of AI-focused companies,
and government readiness for responsible deployment. On
raw computing capacity, the UAE scored 23.1 H100-equivalent
megabytes, thanks to access to over 188,000 advanced Nvidia
H100 and A100 chips. Plans are already underway to add millions
more, putting the country on par with global tech leaders. The UAE
also achieved a high AI readiness index of 70, highlighting its efforts
to build data laws, ethics frameworks, and regulatory structures
for mass adoption. More than 700 start-ups and enterprises now
operate in AI-related fields, while universities are actively training
graduates in neural networks and generative models. AI curricula
across public schools, preparing nearly one million students to
code and use AI responsibly. Abu Dhabi’s backing of sovereign
AI players such as G42 and the Mohamed bin Zayed University of
Artificial Intelligence further underscores its long-term vision. The
findings point to the Gulf’s growing seriousness about competing
with established innovation hubs like Silicon Valley, Seoul, and
Shenzhen. While many Western countries navigate regulatory
hurdles and trade tensions, the UAE has streamlined policies for
data centers, chip imports, and start-up growth. Analysts suggest
that if this momentum continues, the UAE could soon narrow the
gap with the US and set a benchmark for other Gulf nations seeking
AI breakthroughs.

Coral Bridge Subsea Cable Connects Egypt and Jordan

NaiTel, a licensed telecommunications service provider in Jordan
and the telecom arm of Aqaba Digital Hub (ADH – Jordan's largest
carrier-neutral data Centre), and telecom services provider Telecom
Egypt, have announced the completion of the laying of the
15-kilometre express subsea cable Coral Bridge connecting Egypt
and Jordan, the first direct subsea cable between the two countries
in over 25 years. After landing in Taba, Egypt, the cable was laid
across the Gulf of Aqaba landing in Aqaba, Jordan. The partners
say that Coral Bridge provides an express high-fiber-count digital
link across the Gulf of Aqaba. Coral Bridge is also the first
telecommunication subsea system to land at Telecom Egypt's new
cable landing point in Taba – part of the company's broader,
recently established international digital infrastructure in the Sinai
Peninsula. In Jordan, the cable landed at ADH's Tier III carrier-
neutral facility in Aqaba, supporting redundancy and recovery
strategies for businesses, including enterprises and hyperscalers
hosted in the data Centre. By leveraging both countries' strategic
locations and Telecom Egypt's extensive subsea ecosystem, Coral project partners, its short length significantly reduces latency and
Bridge provides seamless onward connectivity across Asia, Africa lowers data costs. It's also an opportunity. As Mohamed Nasr,
and Europe. The 15-kilometre cable, equipped with 48 fiber pairs, is Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Telecom Egypt,
designed for transporting over 1 Petabit of data traffic, supporting explains: "The strategic proximity between Taba and Aqaba creates
the growing demand for data-intensive digital applications such as a vital opportunity to establish a robust corridor for data
cloud computing and artificial intelligence. In addition, say the connectivity across the Middle East and Europe."

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