Sponsor News
Johnson Controls
Johnson Controls launches global data centre business division
Industrial machine manufacturer Johnson Controls has launched a dedicated data centre solutions business, hoping to provide integrated solutions to data centre customers on a global scale. The company’s portfolio of integrated solutions across fire, HVAC, and security equipment is already utilised worldwide across more than 150 countries, and this new division is designed to minimise costs, maximise efficiency, and optimise timing for data centre owners…Read more
Industry News
UAE
AUH Investment Office and Khazna to establish a new data centre
UAE-based hyperscale wholesale data centre provider Khazna is to establish a new 30MW data centre in Abu Dhabi. Khazna currently operates 12 data centres across the UAE with a planned aggregate capacity of 300MW and is targeting the addition of 12 more data centres within the next two years. Ziad Samaha, VP of Business Development at Khazna, comments on this latest partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) as an exemplification of its commitment to spearheading Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s digital and AI ambitions…Read more
Qatar
QIA target growth in Japan
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, is reportedly exploring new opportunities in Japan. QIA has invested nearly $646Mn in Japan to date, more than doubling since opening office in 2021. The investments include stakes in Kokusai Electric, and various other semiconductor and electrical manufacturing companies, and can be seen as a reaffirmed confirmation of the Gulf State’s recognition of the pivotal role that AI and semiconductors will play in future economies…Read more
Saudi Arabia
STC expands across the European Telecoms sector
Saudi telecoms conglomerate STC Group is reportedly in talks to buy the Dutch telecom operator United Group. This possible acquisition, at a reported value of over $8Bn, would see STC firmly expand across Europe – helped by their 9.9% stake purchase in Spain’s Telefonica for $2.5Bn last year. This alongside Tawal, the STC subsidiary, who previously worked with United Group, having acquired three of their tower companies in Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovenia ($1.34Bn), is a clear statement of STC’s aspirations to become a major player in the telecoms industry not just in the Middle East but globally…Read more
Saudi Arabia joins the central bank digital currency project
Saudi Arabia has joined a China-dominated central bank digital currency cross-border trial, in what could be another step towards less of the world’s trade being done in US dollars. Recently announced by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), a global central umbrella organisation overseeing the project, will see the Kingdom’s central bank become a participant in Project mBridge (launched in part by the UAE). An estimated 135 countries and currency unions have joined, representing 98% of global GDP, but with Saudi’s new involvement things are set to change at a rate unseen before. As a major G20 economy and the largest oil exporter in the world, with advanced technologies and private funding at their fingertips, it is exciting to see how payments will modernise and how global economies will shift…Read more