The e& partnership will help accelerate the UAE’s 2031 goal of increasing its domestic product to Dh3 trillion ($816.88 billion) during the next ten years.
E&, a telecom and technology business based in the United Arab Emirates, and Amazon Web Services, the largest cloud services provider globally, are partnering, valued at $1 billion, to promote digital transformation and drive the adoption of cloud solutions.
The firms, announced at Gitex Global in Dubai, will focus on providing services like cloud storage, computing, networking, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and machine learning over the next six years.
E& announced that it uses AWS’s 200 services to modernize platforms, such as Careem, the super app that provides services like food delivery, mobility, and digital payments, and Starzplay Arabia, a TV streaming company in which e& owns majority shares.
According to the UAE-based company, it plans to make the AWS marketplace accessible to small and medium-sized companies.
Hatem Dowidar, group chief executive of e&, which provides services to over 175 million users in 34 countries, stated that the company empowers businesses to lead in an AI-powered, data-driven economy.
They assist the economy, digital resilience, and people by investing in significant infrastructure and talent development. These factors will be crucial in helping the UAE realize its goal of becoming the leading digital powerhouse in the world.
AWS opened its second Middle East cloud region in the United Arab Emirates in 2022, in addition to a $5 billion investment in the local economy through 2036. The business announces that over the next 15 years, it will boost the gross domestic product of the UAE by around $11 billion.
AWS enabled local businesses to use its Amazon Bedrock solutions to access generative AI technology, which will help them increase productivity and enhance customer experience.
According to AWS, local businesses will use its Amazon Bedrock solutions to access generative AI technology, which will help them increase productivity and enhance customer experience. The Seattle-based company, a cloud subsidiary of Amazon and the largest e-commerce company in the world, offers companies on-demand cloud computing platforms.
Cloud companies are witnessing an increase in demand amidst AI growth. In a poll conducted by PwC last year, nearly 68% of Middle Eastern companies stated they intended to move most of their activities to the cloud in the next two years. According to the Consultancy Telecom Advisory Services report, the Middle East and North Africa expect to gain $733 billion in economic value from using public cloud computing by 2033.
Grand View Research, a California-based company, estimated that the cloud computing market in the Middle East and Africa will reach over $178.52 billion by 2030, with an annual growth rate of 18.8% from 2024 to 2030.
AWS is the largest in the cloud infrastructure service industry, with a 31 percent share. Microsoft Azure comes in second with a 25 percent share, while Google Cloud comes in third with a 10 percent share.
The e& partnership will help accelerate the UAE’s 2031 goal of increasing its domestic product to Dh3 trillion ($816.88 billion) during the next ten years.
AWS and e& will also partner to create a local upskilling program to train thousands of people, including UAE, in cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
Microsoft stated that its cloud ecosystem will generate over 152,530 jobs and contribute $74.4 billion to the UAE economy. According to a report by International Data Corporation, the 152,530 will be created partly by Microsoft and partly through its partner ecosystem and cloud-using companies.
The report stated that Microsoft and its partner ecosystem will invest about $5.1 billion in services and goods in local economies in the data center regions of the United Arab Emirates over the next four years. This investment will support the growth of businesses, especially those aiming to capitalize on cloud and AI technologies.