by Douaa Dridi (Policy Intern at CELI)
As the development of national Artificial Intelligence frameworks accelerates, a diversification in terms of trends, priorities and strategies is tangible. While the North-South digital divide persists, the Government AI Readiness Index 2024 places the Middle Eastern and North African (hereinafter, MENA) region in the middle of the regional rankings, attesting to its turn towards AI, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) leading the rankings among its regional counterparts and Yemen falling at the very bottom of the index, globally[1]. Despite the infrastructural imbalance in the MENA region, out of its 19 countries, 9 have, recently, published – and are constantly revising and updating – their national AI strategies (NASs)[2]. The publicly available dataset from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the UAE aptly reflects the structural and ethical dilemmas characterizing current regional approaches to AI – namely, innovation Vs. control, global alignment Vs. developing local capacities, and economic diversification Vs. labour displacement.
AI Trends Across the MENA Region
Arabic-speaking countries, indeed, showcase a wide disparity across the AI preparedness spectrum. Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Mauritania, the State of Palestine, Sudan, and the Syrian Arab Republic are classified as countries with “low to medium digital readiness,” while Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia’s digital potential is highlighted[3]. Gulf Cooperation Council countries’ (GCC) assumed digital leadership role, on the other hand, continues to expand as they move towards a more tangible commitment to AI integration through the Smart City Initiatives.
The 2025 Global Innovation Index shows the three GCC states maintain their position in the top 50 countries in the world for innovation[4]. With the exception of the Kingdom of Morocco – which ranks 57 on the GII 2025 – outside of the Gulf States, the gap between AI strategy development and its actual implementation is rather palpable[5]. Nevertheless, owing to the “presence of a strong capacity for innovation, a youth eager to learn and apply AI-driven approaches, a dynamic startup ecosystem open to new technological trends as well as a large community of diaspora specialized in AI, ready to help” the potential of the three North African countries – Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia – to overcome the infrastructural and skills gap has been underscored[6].
The national AI visions of MENA countries reflect six key thematic orientations as identified in the Arab Reform Initiative study “AI in the national: AI Strategies of the Arab Region”[7]. AI is presented in the MENA States’ NASs as (a) cornerstone of national developmental vision, (b) a driver of economic growth, (c) a stimulator of job opportunities, (d) a pillar of regional leadership, but also as (e) a cause of labour force displacement and (f) a disruptive force that requires regulation. What follows is an overview of the existing drafted/ratified strategy considerations delineated in the national plans through the aforementioned clusters.
Governance and Leadership
MENA states have already integrated, with varying degrees, AI across a plethora of sectors, including finance and banking, energy, transport and logistics, retail and E-commerce, manufacturing, government and public services, and education signalling their commitment to leveraging AI’s transformative impacts for their national advancement[8].
Yet, it is in the GCC states’ NASs that the goal to become a regional and global hub for AI innovation and integration is rather pronounced. Saudi Arabia’s “National Strategy for Data & AI” (Vision 2030), for instance, seeks to “elevate the kingdom as a global leader in the elite league of data driven economies”[9], while Qatar seeks to become a “role model to other countries by adopting technologies on a massive scale and transitioning into an AI+X future” [10],[11]. The UAE remains the only country in the world that had dedicated a cabinet-level Ministry to AI; the Ministry of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications established in 2017 as part of the country’s National AI 2031 Strategy reflects its ambition to be a regional and global pioneer in AI governance and digital innovation[12].
The Middle East – and the GCC states, primarily – provide an alternative framework for the study of AI governance; instead of the “pluralistic and democratized” model of AI policymaking, “top-down governance structures”, and high-level commitment characterize the MENA approach[13]. The state-driven model is framed as a strategic decision meant to foster rapid and efficient innovation while simultaneously ensuring the alignment of AI adopted strategies with the local economic and security priorities. Decision-making on AI-related frameworks is, as such, the prerogative of high-level committees, ministries, and councils –for instance, the UAE’s Ministry for AI, or Saudi Arabia’s National Centre for AI.
For example, cognizant of the present opportunities afforded by its technological infrastructure to lead in AI global diplomacy, Saudi Arabia’s Communications, Space & Technology Commission issued a draft Global AI Hub Law seeking to transform the kingdom into a collaborative centre for AI innovation[14]. The draft law creates a legal system for establishing different types of “AI hubs” or “data embassies”[15]. These include the national hubs which are fully governed by national jurisdiction, but also extended and virtual hubs. the first allows foreign and regional AI companies, data centres and researchers to operate in Saudi Arabia, while the latter extends digital infrastructure for data hosting. Nevertheless, the kingdom maintains data sovereignty with oversight of all processed data within the country – unless otherwise specified by bilateral agreements. Foreign entities and private companies, as such, can benefit from Saudi infrastructure and investment incentives while Saudi Arabia finds itself as the leader of this “major shift in cross-border data governance”[16].
Furthermore, MENA countries showcase an inclination towards a “soft regulation” approach. While GCC states are participants in the UNESCO Recommendation of the Ethics of AI (2021) and the United Nations General Assembly’s Ethical AI principles (2024) – non-binding ethical guidelines – they maintain caution about the more binding regulations on AI governance, including the Council of Europe AI Treaty (2024)[17].
AI and the Job Market
The prospective opportunities afforded by the integration of AI in growth strategies – diversification and productivity, among others – seem to clash with a pressing concern for MENA States. The MENA region is home to the highest rate of unemployment in the world levelling at 24.4 per cent in 2023 in comparison to a 13 per cent global overage[18]. The automation of the job market thus raises the classic yet critical concern of labour hand displacement.
Indeed, the GCC states’ turn towards the adoption and consolidation of AI-driven innovation is directed towards achieving a strategic objective: economic diversification. However, in countries like Egypt, Jordan or Morocco, among others where a significant workforce is employed in low and mid-skill occupations, a mismatch between the labour hand and the demands of an AI-driven economy is certain to have repercussions on productivity[19].
Deployment of AI tools and solutions in public and private sectors alike without a thorough and accurate study of the national ecosystems can clash with lack of talent capabilities, but also risk putting a significant segment of the populations out of their jobs if not complemented with reskilling and reintegration strategies[20]. MENA economies should, indeed, focus their AI national plans on embedding digital literacy, first and foremost, to ensure continuous “upskilling and reskilling” schema that can meet the demands of AI-enabled markets.
Balancing Innovation and Ethical Considerations: ‘Smart City’ Initiatives
The debate on AI strategy orientations in the MENA region is most pronounced in the context of the Smart Cities flagship projects. Saudi Arabia’s NEOM, the UAE’s Smart City projects (Masdar City, Dubai South, Dubai Silicon Oasis, the Sustainable City), and Egypt’s New Cairo are examples of these techno-centric cities envisioned and constructed through “the assumption that technology has the answer to solve the old challenges that cities face”[21]. Smart Cities are meant to combine the six dimensions of smart economy, smart governance, smart living, smart environment, and smart mobility[22]. The most pressing concerns of urbanization (transportation, pollution, waste management, healthcare, public safety, among others) are thus meant to be addressed through a state-of-the-art responsive, adaptive, predictive and efficient AI-led system.
The UAE’s smart cities, for instance, aim to leverage AI for the automation of transportation, route optimization, and emissions reduction. Saudi’s NEOM, on the other hand, has placed focus on the technology’s potential in the healthcare system[23]. Nevertheless, the datafication of urban life generally centres the concerns of control, surveillance, data privacy and security, especially in the MENA region where authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regimes are in place. Smart cities rely on an extensive data collection project in order to optimize services making them subject to criticism.
The application of AI for monitoring of communication networks and surveillance in order to recognise threats, prevent accidents and crime, if not complemented by transparency and privacy laws, culminates in an impasse between increase in security Vs. authoritarian control. AI can, very easily, be used to control and influence citizens’ behaviour. “AI technologies are not neutral; they can lead to inaccuracies, discriminatory outcomes, and embedded biases”[24]. A major point of concern that has been highlighted, in this context, is the possibility of weaponizing the technology – through discrimination and misidentification – against women and racial minorities and privacy invasion[25].
In Egypt’s New Cairo, more than 6,000 surveillance cameras have been installed to “keep watch over the first of its 6.5 million residents”[26]. Within this technological hub, concerns over the vitality of the civic space have been stressed, especially as the “unrelenting crackdown” on journalists and opposition figures in Egypt persists in what came to be dubbed the “decade of repression”[27].
The clash between the security standards that the smart cities are envisioned to establish and the risks of AI bias means that the successful – effective and responsible – incorporation of AI in MENA developmental frameworks remains subject to an exigency to align innovation with ethics.
Bridging the Gaps: A Collaborative MENA AI Ecosystem as a Future Scenario
Inclusive and equal application of AI remains a far-fetched reality in the current MENA regional landscape. On its current trajectory, the benefits are concentrated within the wealthier MENA economies while the mid and low-income countries of North Africa and the Levant continue to face financial, infrastructural and regulatory barriers compounded by the ongoing regional tensions. The escalation of Israeli aggression on Palestine with ramifications reaching Lebanon and Syria, and the on and off Israeli-Iranian face offs meant that the levant sub-region’s AI development strategy is relegated to the margins, with the exception of both Egypt and Israel. On the other hand, despite acknowledged potential, the North African countries lag behind.
MENA States’ national AI strategies currently in implementation or in development reflect state-led and locally oriented visions that demonstrate limited region-wide cooperative efforts. Yet, in order to bridge existing gaps in terms of skills, technological infrastructure as well as ethical considerations and competitiveness edge, collaboration emerges as a first step. The speed at which AI is advancing makes it an indispensable technology in geopolitical, economic, industrial and even socio-cultural national frameworks. Fostering cooperative approaches, however, instead of isolated plans can lead to (a) cross-border talent mobility, and (b) enhanced digital literacy programmes in both the public and private sectors. The intraregional exchange among researchers, policymakers and developers can also address a regionally relevant concern: the development of Arabic-language related AI projects (natural language processing, speech recognition and machine translation tools). This, ultimately, can help the region overcome the underrepresentation of the Arabic language in global AI datasets and models[28].
Shared governance frameworks, likewise, have the potential to (c) limit individual states’ dependence on Beijing and Washington and finally, (d) create a climate of accountability minimizing the misuse of AI through the possible alignment of ethical guidelines. A MENA Alliance on AI or an AI regulatory plan – following in the steps of the EU’S AI Act – should be a priority in the present regional landscape in order to foster a values-based research, enforce ethical standards and oversight.
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