The UAE announced a landmark $1 billion AI for Development initiative at the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, where Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, represented President Sheikh Mohamed.

The initiative aims to expand artificial intelligence infrastructure and AI-enabled services across Africa, providing countries with access to AI computing power, technical expertise, and global partnerships to support projects in education, agriculture, healthcare, digital identity, and climate adaptation.

Minister of State Saeed Al Hajeri emphasized that this is AI deployed at scale for national development priorities, focusing on practical delivery rather than experimental work, with the goal of ensuring that no country is left behind in the AI age.

The UAE ranks second globally in AI capability, according to a 2025 TRG Datacenters study, possessing over 188,000 AI chips and a total computing capacity of 6.4K megawatts, and is now seeking to leverage this capacity to enhance government services, productivity, and digital infrastructure across Africa.

The announcement follows recent US approval for the export of Nvidia AI chips to UAE AI company G42 and Saudi tech start-up Humain, a step seen as significant in the broader Gulf technology diversification efforts.

These moves build on earlier bilateral deals, including the UAE’s $1.4 trillion investment pledge in the US and plans for a 5-gigawatt UAE-US AI Campus.

The UAE has also nurtured start-ups, partnerships, and attracted investment from major global tech companies such as Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI.

Beyond technology, the UAE’s commitment to Africa includes large-scale clean energy projects, co-hosting the 2026 United Nations Water Conference with Senegal, and providing over $1.05 billion in aid in 2023-2024, including $784 million to Sudan since the outbreak of civil war in 2023.

According to Al Hajeri, the UAE is now the fourth-largest investor in Africa, with bilateral trade reaching $107 billion in 2024 and total investments from 2020 to 2024 amounting to approximately $118.6 billion.