Data Centre FDI Raises New Development Questions

The global investment recovery is being powered by artificial intelligence, but the benefits are not spreading evenly. Data centres have become one of the strongest drivers of foreign direct investment, helping lift headline global FDI flows after two years of decline. Yet the surge is also raising difficult questions about which countries are positioned to gain from the next phase of digital infrastructure.

UN Trade and Investment’s World Investment Report 2026 shows global FDI capital flows reached $1.6 trillion last year, with AI-related expansion playing a major role. Data centres alone recorded a $235 billion increase in greenfield investment and project finance compared with 2024. That growth reflects the scale of demand for computing power, cloud capacity and digital infrastructure as companies and governments compete to support AI adoption.

However, the pattern of investment is becoming more selective. Developed economies benefited more strongly than developing markets, partly because data centres and AI infrastructure require reliable power, connectivity, land, technical skills and regulatory certainty. For lower-income economies, the risk is that the most valuable parts of the AI investment cycle concentrate elsewhere, widening existing development gaps.

That outcome is not unavoidable. Developing countries may not compete directly for frontier AI mega-projects, but they can still capture value through related segments such as renewable energy, logistics, business services, critical minerals processing, supplier networks and regional digital infrastructure. The challenge is to build realistic entry points rather than chase projects that require capabilities they do not yet possess.

The jobs question also matters. Data centres can bring capital and productivity benefits, but they often create fewer direct jobs than manufacturing or labour-intensive services. As AI infrastructure becomes a larger share of global FDI, governments will be judged on whether they can turn digital investment into broader industrial development, rather than isolated facilities with limited local spillovers.