The Gulf wants to break free from the world’s data chokepoints
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The GCC’s AI ambitions are creating a parallel infrastructure race—Gulf countries and telecom companies are trying not only to build enough computing power, but also to control the fibre and cable networks that carry the resulting data .
Currently, over 90% of Europe–Asia data and telecommunications traffic flows through Egypt and the subsea cable corridors converging at the Red Sea and Suez Canal region.
Today’s geopolitical instability is making the construction of alternative routes a strategic imperative.
The UAE, Saudi, and Qatar are all racing to build out these routes. Qatari Ooredoo’s Fibre in the Gulf (FIG) system is on track to be the largest subsea cable system ever built in the GCC.
Set for completion in late 2027, the $500 million system will span almost 2,000 kilometers, linking all six GCC states and Iraq, while bypassing the Suez Canal and Bab-el-Mandeb strait entirely.
Ooredoo Group’s CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo told me that the Iran war had “reinforced the proposition” of FIG.
But its proposition is not without challenges. A key section of FIG is due to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, with Fakhroo acknowledging “we currently can’t get the cable-laying ships inside Hormuz.”
Of course, a bigger question looms in the longer term: To what extent will the current war and its aftermath threaten the viability of the digital highways that are being built across and beyond the Gulf.
You can read my full interview with Fakhroo in my piece here .
And, in case you missed it, Fortune got the scoop last week on the news that Ooreedoo has teamed up with Nvidia and Nokia to launch a multi-billion-dollar AI compute and neo-cloud platform in Indonesia.
For Ooredoo, the move diversifies the group’s geographic footprint beyond its core Middle Eastern markets, while also deepening its exposure to Southeast Asia where AI adoption is showing stronger momentum than the global average.
Melissa Hancock As ever, thanks for reading, and do keep in touch with your thoughts and ideas. See you next week. melissa.hancock@fortune.com
The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned Shelbit, a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange , that allegedly served as the hub of a $4 billion scheme used to evade Iranian sanctions.
The designation followed a Reuters investigation that found that Shelbit moved crypto on behalf of Iran’s central bank , as well as to addresses linked by the Israeli government to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and one of the world’s largest illegal online gambling networks.
“Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat,” commented Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The U.S. Treasury’s designation follows a notice issued on 24 July from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) finding that Shelbit had violated anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
Shelbit hadn’t been licensed by VARA since 2025, while one of its owners was deported from the UAE in April. Shelbit has denied the allegations, stating: "Shelbit LLC categorically rejects any suggestion that the company knowingly participated in money laundering, terrorist financing, illegal gambling activity, sanctions evasion, or activity on behalf of any sanctioned, military, or governmental organization."
Meanwhile Daniel Kinahan was extradited from Dubai to Ireland on Sunday following his arrest in Dubai in April. He has been charged with a single offense—directing the activities of a criminal organization between October 2015 and April 2017 . His lawyers have previously said that the allegations that he is a crime boss are false and have no evidential basis.
It is seen as a sign that the emirate is taking a tougher stance against people on the U.S. Treasury sanctions list. The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Kinahan and the organization it identified as the Kinahan Transnational Criminal Organisation (KTCO) in 2022.
In February 2024, the UAE was removed from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) “ grey list” of jurisdictions under increased monitoring in recognition of its improved ability to tackle illicit money flows.
Being on the “grey list” made it more difficult for UAE businesses to conduct cross-border transactions, as financial institutions often had to undertake enhanced country-level due diligence. This resulted in longer deal timelines and higher compliance costs.
The UAE’s non-oil private sector grew at its fastest pace in four months in July, while employment numbers rose amid a recovery from the U.S.-Iran war.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UAE Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to 52.7 from 50.8 in June; the 50-mark separates growth from contraction.
New orders expanded at the fastest pace since February, while export business increased for the first time since March and at the quickest rate in a year, helped by improving activity elsewhere in the region.
The UAE’s labour market, which experienced one of the sharpest contractions in June since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, returned to growth in July, with firms citing stronger demand as a justification for renewed hiring.
David Owen, principal economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the July data signalled “a restoration of business confidence and a period of smoother trade flows.”
However, business confidence towards future output fell to its lowest level since March, with only 7% of firms predicting an uplift over the coming year.
“The volatile situation in the Strait of Hormuz continues to make the future uncertain and kept price pressures elevated in July,” Owen said.
On 28 July, Moody’s changed its MENA outlook from stable to negative , noting that the impairment of shipping through the Strait…
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