More data centers: Indian software firm Zoho tapped US-based digital infrastructure player Equinix to build out more data centers in the UAE, after rolling one out in Dubai and another in Abu Dhabi at the start of this year, the company’s Middle East and Africa head Hyther Nizam told Bloomberg.

The company will fund the expansion — which will also see it build data centers in Saudi Arabia and South Africa — from its existing operations in the UAE. Its facilities in the UAE host over 100 solutions from the company’s flagship brands — Zoho for cloud solutions, and ManageEngine for IT management. The company had earlier earmarked AED 100 mn for its UAE expansion.

Why this matters

The Emirates is set to see a surge in data center development in the next few years. The UAE’s data center capacity is expected to climb 165% to around 950 MW by 2028, according to Emirates NBD. Zoho’s joining a roster of firms that includes Microsoft, which plans to invest over USD 7.9 bn in data centers in the UAE, and Du, with its planned 500k sqm 1 GW AI Park in Dubai, as well as the planned 1 GW Stargate cluster in Abu Dhabi. Khazna is also working on a pipeline of projects in the UAE, including new sites in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and the country’s first AI-enabled data center in Ajman.

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