MENA's $169 billion tech year
Gartner forecasts Middle East & North Africa IT spending to reach $169 billion in 2026 — up 8.9%, led by data centres and software.
Markus Winkler / UnsplashIT spending across the Middle East and North Africa is projected to total $169 billion in 2026, an increase of 8.9% over 2025, according to Gartner — driven by accelerating adoption of AI, automation and AI-optimised infrastructure.
Where the money goes
- Data-centre systems: the highest-growth segment, projected up 37.3% to $13 billion.
- Software: up 13.9% to $20.4 billion, as organizations adopt generative-AI capabilities.
- IT services: up 8.3%.
- Communications services: the largest category, growing to about $63.5 billion.
The headline number is a useful backdrop for everything else in this series: the AI campuses, sovereign models, fintech frameworks and telecom rebuilds are all line items inside a region spending at record levels on technology.