UAE to Invest 40 Billion Euros in Germany, Part Going to AI Data Centers

The United Arab Emirates has announced investments in Germany worth 40 billion euros, about 46.5 billion dollars. The announcement came on September 10, 2026, during President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan's first official visit to Berlin since 2019, with part of the funds intended to finance AI data centers with a combined capacity of up to one gigawatt.

President Al Nahyan's visit was hosted by Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He was accompanied by UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, known until now mainly as head of the state oil company ADNOC and chairman of the COP28 climate conference. Alongside the main 40 billion euro package, German and Emirati companies signed 29 separate commercial agreements worth 9.4 billion euros.

Money for data centers

The most concrete element of the package is data centers with a target capacity of up to one gigawatt, built for AI-related workloads. The UAE has spent months searching for locations in Europe for this type of infrastructure, having previously announced a project with France, Bpifrance, Mistral and Nvidia for an AI campus near Paris with a target capacity of up to three gigawatts. The German package also covers energy strategy, industrial chemistry, defense technologies including drones, and LNG imports under an agreement between RWE and ADNOC.

The parties announced the creation of a joint Investment Council to coordinate the flow of capital and connect German researchers with Emirati investors on further technology projects. This mirrors mechanisms Abu Dhabi has already used in its agreements with France and the United States.

Gulf diversification

For the UAE, this is part of a broader strategy to diversify capital accumulated from oil exports. The country's sovereign wealth funds already manage assets worth nearly two trillion dollars, and Abu Dhabi is distributing them among the United States, France, and now, increasingly, Germany. The motivation stems partly from uncertainty surrounding the policies of the Donald Trump administration and tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, which complicate the Gulf's traditional reliance on Washington.

The UAE invests for the long term and builds partnerships that last - Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology

The German side, meanwhile, emphasized the need to diversify its own economic alliances at a time when the global balance of power is shifting.

We need partnerships like this more than ever, at a time when great powers are increasingly dominating politics - Friedrich Merz, Chancellor of Germany

Poland left out

Polish media commenting on the decision note that the country is not yet participating in this wave of Gulf capital, despite parallel efforts to attract investment in domestic AI infrastructure, including the bids of several Polish cities for the EU's AI gigafactory. Germany, France, and the United Kingdom have spent months negotiating packages worth tens of billions of euros with Emirati funds, while Polish talks with Gulf investors have not reached that scale.

The scale of the German package, 40 billion euros against Germany's GDP of roughly 4.5 trillion euros, also shows that foreign capital for AI infrastructure is concentrating around the region's largest economies. For smaller markets, including Poland, this means competing not only for EU funds but also for the attention of the same sovereign wealth funds already allocating capital among Berlin, Paris, and Washington.

Human rights criticism

The visit was accompanied by protests and criticism from human rights organizations. Human Rights Watch reiterated concerns about the human rights situation in the UAE and allegations of the country's involvement in the conflict in Sudan, urging German authorities not to overlook these issues while deepening economic ties.

For now, the new package amounts to a political declaration, with concrete investment agreements, including those for data centers, to be worked out through the newly formed Investment Council over the coming months. The pace of implementation will show whether the announced 40 billion euros translates into real computing capacity in Europe, or remains, for now, a diplomatic statement.