Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), said that the UAE is focusing on investing in the sector artificial intelligence Through the Artificial Intelligence for Development initiative, which the government considers a continuation of a series of initiatives that serve development on the African continent.
Infrastructure investment
Al-Suwaidi added, on the sidelines of the G20 summit held in South Africa this year, that the fund focuses on investing in infrastructure that supports economic growth, such as the health, education and roads sectors, especially since artificial intelligence is now touching all sectors, according to CNBC Arabia.
He pointed out that the Fund has allocated a time period of 5 years for the Artificial Intelligence Initiative, through which the Fund will finance national companies with a value of one billion dollars to direct it to African countries, and the Fund is trying to include the largest possible number of African countries within this initiative to benefit from it.
The Director General of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development said that the Abu Dhabi Export Fund was established with the aim of opening new markets for Emirati companies abroad, especially with the development that the Emirati economy is currently witnessing, as we have advanced infrastructure such as airports and ports. We have succeeded in opening about 40 new markets for Emirati companies around the world, and we were able to provide about 4 billion dirhams in financing for our national companies during the last three years.
Regarding the nature of the financing that the fund will provide, Al Suwaidi said that the financing will be in the form of loans granted to the buyer who wants a good or product from the Emirates, adding that the fund focuses on financing infrastructure projects to achieve sustainable economic growth, and that the fund’s activity touches 60 billion dollars while it is present in more than 100 countries around the world.
Regarding the electrical interconnection project, Al-Suwaidi said that this project will complete the electrical interconnection between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and will enable them to exchange energy among themselves, noting that the Fund had previous initiatives with IRENA, including a $350 million initiative in the field of renewable energy that was implemented in several stages, and then another initiative with IRENA also to create a platform through which countries can obtain financing in the field of renewable energy.
