Emerging Markets Need More Data Centers

Emerging and developing markets remain significantly underinvested in digital infrastructure, says Obinna Isiadinso, the global sector lead for data centers and cloud services investments at the International Finance Corporation (IFC). "India today has something like 1.7 gigawatts of capacity, compared to Northern Virginia that has 3 or 4 gigawatts," Isiadinso tells Cool Vector, citing the country as an example of an emerging market facing a compute constraint. Isiadinso, whose team has invested in data centers since 2005 and now holds roughly $400 million in the sector out of a broader $3 billion digital infrastructure portfolio, walks through how the IFC identifies opportunity across roughly 20 priority markets, why its decades-long presence gives it credibility with regulators and governments other capital providers haven't yet reached, and which regions are pulling ahead in the race for capacity. Key Takeaways: • Asia leads IFC's regional exposure, followed by Latin America and Africa. India and Malaysia are the standout Asian markets, with recent IFC commitments including debt financing to expand NTT's platform in India and Yondr Group's 300-megawatt hyperscale facility in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. • Brazil, South Africa, and Poland anchor their regions. Brazil is IFC's top Latin American market, where it holds exposure through Scala Data Centers; South Africa holds roughly 60% of Africa's data center capacity; and Poland remains IFC's primary Eastern European focus, with growing interest in Romania and Bulgaria. • AI demand is emerging alongside cloud. While collocation and cloud demand still dominate, IFC is starting to see meaningful AI-driven demand in its largest markets — particularly Brazil, India, and Malaysia. • Projects above roughly 300 megawatts can outgrow the pool of institutional buyers able to acquire them once stabilized, though Isiadinso says those cases remain rare — most projects under 100 megawatts see strong acquisition interest. Access the full transcript and a searchable archive at the Cool Vector Substack. #digitalinfrastructure #datacenter #AI