Gulf capital is financing digital infrastructure across emerging markets at an accelerating pace. Projects that build lasting capacity differ fundamentally from those that create permanent reliance on foreign systems. Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, Chairman of Inmā Emirates Holdings, has structured technology investments that prioritize local workforce development alongside hardware deployment.
Digital infrastructure without accompanying skills transfer produces dependency rather than development. A school equipped with tablets but lacking trained teachers becomes a warehouse for unused equipment within three years. A national identity system maintained entirely by foreign contractors leaves governments vulnerable to service interruptions and cost escalation.
What Separates Capacity Building from Equipment Distribution?
World Bank EdTech research has documented a consistent pattern across 60 countries: technology deployments that include teacher training, curriculum development, and local technical support achieve learning outcome improvements three to four times greater than hardware-only initiatives. Equipment without ecosystem produces minimal returns.
Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum’s partnership with Huawei to deploy Smart Classroom technology in Pakistan follows this capacity-first model. Teacher training programs run parallel to hardware installation. Curriculum development teams adapt digital content to local educational standards. Pakistani technical staff receive certification to maintain and troubleshoot systems independently.
Evaluating whether a technology investment builds capacity or creates dependency requires examining five markers:
1. Local certification programs exist for system maintenance and troubleshooting
2. Curriculum adaptation occurs through domestic education specialists rather than foreign consultants
3. Spare parts and consumables can be sourced regionally within 18 months of deployment
4. Technical documentation is translated and maintained in local languages
5. Exit timelines are contractually defined for foreign technical staff
Sustainability depends on where expertise resides. When external contractors control system maintenance, ongoing costs rise steadily while local knowledge remains static. When local technicians gain expertise, maintenance costs stabilize and the country develops exportable skills.
How Do Device Manufacturing Facilities Create Multiplier Effects?
Smart device production facilities in Nigeria, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea demonstrate how Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum structures investments to generate economic activity beyond immediate project scope.
A manufacturing facility requires component suppliers. Suppliers require quality control systems that meet international standards. Quality systems require trained inspectors. Inspectors gain credentials recognized by global manufacturers. Employment categories emerge that did not previously exist in these markets.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development research shows greenfield investment in digital infrastructure nearly tripled from 2020 to 2024, reaching $360 billion globally. Developing countries received only 30 percent of this total. Risk perception and regulatory complexity create barriers that bilateral investors like Inmā can navigate more efficiently than multilateral institutions.
Most foreign direct investment in African technology sectors flows toward extraction: data centers serving multinational clients, call centers employing local workers on international contracts, software development outsourcing. Value capture remains offshore. Manufacturing facilities differ because they embed technical capabilities within domestic supply chains. Workers at Inmā-backed facilities gain transferable skills. Local suppliers develop quality standards enabling participation in global value chains. Countries reduce foreign exchange pressure from technology imports. Subsequent private sector activity follows that would not otherwise occur.
What Does Guyana’s National ID Program Reveal About Digital Infrastructure?
Guyana’s National ID Program illustrates how digital systems become platforms for broader development. A secure identity database enables financial inclusion for populations previously excluded from formal banking. Government service delivery improves through elimination of duplicate registrations across agencies. Authentication infrastructure emerges for e-commerce and digital payments.
Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum structured the Guyana project through Nawa Technologies, Oracle’s exclusive government digitization partner in the region. Cloud-based architecture reduces capital expenditure requirements that typically constrain developing country technology adoption. Subscription-based pricing converts large upfront costs into manageable operational expenses.
National ID systems often fail because governments treat them as registration exercises rather than platform infrastructure. Successful implementations share a common characteristic: they launch with immediate utility beyond identification itself. Guyana’s system connects to banking verification, tax administration, and social benefit distribution from day one. Citizens experience tangible value, which drives voluntary registration rates far above compulsory-only approaches.
UAE Ministry of Education digital transformation provides a reference model. Emirates institutions moved 1.2 million students online during 2020 through integrated platforms developed over the preceding decade. That infrastructure investment created institutional knowledge now exported to partner countries through initiatives like Inmā’s education technology projects.
How Does Bilateral Investment Differ from Multilateral Development Finance?
Traditional development finance operates through standardized processes. Environmental assessments, competitive procurement, board approvals, and reporting requirements consume 18 to 36 months before funds reach recipient countries. Legitimate accountability concerns create practical barriers for time-sensitive infrastructure needs.
Gulf bilateral investment operates differently. Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum negotiates directly with government counterparts. Project design reflects local priorities rather than institutional templates. Execution timelines compress to operational requirements rather than bureaucratic calendars.
UK government Technology and Innovation Sector Plan emphasizes similar principles for domestic investment: effective technology adoption requires reducing barriers between capital and implementation. Institutional capacity constraints in emerging markets amplify procedural delays further still.
Governments evaluating bilateral technology partnerships should assess three structural elements before signing agreements:
• Revenue linkage to outcomes: Concession structures that tie investor returns to operational performance (cargo volumes, student enrollment, system uptime) create sustained incentive alignment. Construction-exit models forfeit this accountability mechanism.
• Workforce transition schedules: Contracts should specify year-by-year reductions in expatriate technical staff with corresponding increases in certified local personnel. Vague “knowledge transfer” clauses rarely produce results.
• Intellectual property access: Governments need rights to system documentation, source code for custom applications, and training materials sufficient to switch vendors if relationships deteriorate.
Inmā Emirates Holdings operates across more than 15 countries with concentrated activity in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Gulf-adjacent African states. Relationship networks facilitate trust-building outside formal legal frameworks. Cultural proximity enables negotiation dynamics unavailable to institutions operating at greater distance from partner communities.
Does the Model Scale Beyond Individual Projects?
Gulf technology investment faces a central question: can capacity-building approaches replicate at volumes sufficient to address infrastructure gaps estimated at $15 trillion globally? Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum’s 35 initiatives across 15 countries demonstrate proof of concept but remain modest relative to total need.
UAE Digital Economy targets increasing digital contributions to GDP from under 10 percent to approximately 19.4 percent by 2031. Domestic transformation creates expertise pools exportable to partner countries. Masdar’s development of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park built capabilities now deployed across Africa and Asia.
Technology transfer at scale requires maintaining project execution quality, workforce development effectiveness, and financial transparency across expanding portfolios. Gulf sovereign wealth funds control resources sufficient to finance transformation across multiple continents. Implementation capacity remains the bottleneck, not capital availability.
Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum’s model offers a template for patient, capacity-building investment. Returns measure in communities equipped to sustain their own technological futures alongside financial performance. Whether that template influences how other capital approaches emerging markets matters more than direct investments alone.