The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) invests in digital infrastructure to close the digital divide and achieve net-zero transition.
We need more sustainable digital infrastructure to ensure everybody has access to the same economic and social opportunities that connectivity and technology can offer, while supporting the net-zero transition.
The Bank’s investments include “hard” and “soft” digital infrastructure such as telecommunications, data storage, software and devices, as well as technology to enable traditional infrastructure across sectors.
AIIB employs competitive financing models to alleviate private investment risks in emerging markets. Notably, it financed a multifunctional satellite project in Indonesia under a public-private partnership framework providing high-speed Internet to 45 million residents on remote islands.
Greening energy-demanding digital infrastructure such as data centres is also part of AIIB’s focus. For example, the Bank financed USD 100 million of the Keppel-Pierfront Private Credit Fund for green data centre technologies.
AIIB’s activities extend beyond investment operations. The Bank pioneered work on regulatory cooperation in digital infrastructure, operating and chairing the Digital Infrastructure Regulatory Risk Forum, which includes multilateral development banks and international organizations. The forum aims to develop multilateral cooperation and better understand the complex issues of data privacy, cybersecurity and AI regulations.
AIIB has also been active in sharing and facilitating knowledge exchanges through its work on a G20 Compendium of Case Studies on innovative digital infrastructure financing, as well as with the launch of the InfraTech Portal for infrastructure technology solutions and application cases.
AIIB will continue to collaborate with private-sector investors on mobilizing private capital for a more sustained effort in closing the digital divide and achieving net-zero transition.
Digital Infrastructure Investment Initiative
AIIB is co-leading the Digital Infrastructure Investment Initiative with other leading development finance institutions and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations agency for digital technologies.
The initiative aims to mobilize finance at the scale needed for 100 per cent connectivity at speeds of at least 20 megabits per second (Mbps) globally.
Private investors, infrastructure builders, and operators have all come aboard, contributing unique technical and market insights.
Together, these diverse partners have set out to identify underserved areas and calculate costs for fibre, wireless, backbone, and data centres, factoring in potential revenues to create a sustainable business model.
Source: https://www.itu.int/hub/2025/01/aiib-closing-the-digital-divide-and-achieving-net-zero/