Focus Vertical 10

Technology Sector

Digital infrastructure and the industries it unlocks.

  • $6TGlobal digital-infra spend
  • 21%AI & DPI CAGR
  • 2.6BPeople still offline
  • 6Focus areas

Overview

Technology is the compounding layer beneath every other vertical — connectivity, digital public infrastructure, data centres, and the AI and platform economy they enable. The coalition finances the rails that let a whole economy leapfrog.

Investment thesis

Digital public infrastructure has repeatedly delivered the fastest development gains on record, and AI is now compounding faster than any prior general-purpose technology. Coalition economies that build the rails early capture the value; those that wait import it.

Inception
2019
Regions
Américas · África · Asia
Instruments
Blended finance · Equity · Concessional loan · Guarantee
2030 target
32 M of 55 M
Data as of
July 2026

Focus areas

  • Connectivity
  • Digital public infrastructure
  • Data centres
  • AI & platforms
  • Cybersecurity
  • Digital skills

Structural themes

The forces reshaping technology sector — and where the coalition positions against them.

  1. Digital public infrastructure

    Identity, payments, and data rails deliver the fastest development gains on record.

  2. AI and compute

    AI compounds faster than any prior general-purpose technology; the economies that build the rails capture the value.

  3. Connectivity as the base layer

    Fibre, towers, and data centres are the precondition for everything downstream.

  4. Sovereign digital capacity

    Local cloud, data, and cyber capacity turn digital dependence into digital sovereignty.

How we invest

  1. Originate with members

    Pipeline is sourced through member central banks and finance ministries, so every commitment is aligned to a national priority from day one.

  2. Blend & de-risk capital

    Concessional capital, guarantees, and first-loss layers are structured to crowd in private and institutional money at multiples of the coalition’s own outlay.

  3. Build local capacity

    Every deal carries a capacity-development component — institutions, skills, and data — so results outlast the financing.

  4. Measure & report

    Outcomes are tracked against a results framework and independently evaluated, then published — closing the loop between capital and impact.

The opportunity

The coalition is active across 4 focus areas within technology sector, concentrating capital where the return on development is highest. India anchors the current book, while the forward pipeline signals where the next tranche of capital is heading. Because the frontier layer compounds faster than the broad sector, early and patient positions capture a disproportionate share of the value created.

Managing the risk

These are real markets carrying real currency, policy, and execution risk, and the strategy is built to absorb it. Guarantees, first-loss layers, and blended concessional capital sit between partners and volatility, and no technology sector position is taken without a clear path to refinancing or exit. Independent evaluation then reviews every outcome against the original thesis and reports above management, not to it.

Beyond capital

Capital alone rarely sticks. Each technology sector commitment pairs financing with the institution-building, data, and skills that let results outlast the loan — so a single project seeds capacity that compounds across the wider economy long after the coalition has been repaid.

Regional lens

Across the coalition’s three secretariats, Asia carries the deepest technology sector book today — roughly $0.45B committed with a further $0.35B in pipeline. The Américas, África, and Asia each source their own deals, so the portfolio reflects genuinely different market structures rather than a single template applied everywhere.

The data at a glance

Technology Sector — market context, coalition portfolio, and impact, visualised. Figures are illustrative for this build.

  1. $6T Global digital-infra spend
  2. 21% AI & DPI CAGR
  3. $1.1B Coalition tech portfolio
  4. 2.6B People still offline

Market context & momentum

Technology Sector is among the largest and fastest-moving arenas in development finance, and the coalition treats it as a core allocation rather than a thematic bet. Scale here is measured in the trillions, but the number that drives returns is the rate of change — and on that measure the technology frontier is pulling steadily away from the sector average.

Exhibit 01 rebases the broad sector against that frontier; the widening gap between the two lines is the excess return available to early, patient capital. Exhibit 02 tracks the coalition's own deployment into technology sector, which has compounded year on year as pipeline has converted into signed commitments. Indexed to 2020 = 100. AI & platforms (frontier) compound faster than any prior technology wave.

Exhibit 01Sector vs. frontier growthindexed, 2020 = 100
202020222024202620282030
FrontierSector

Indexed to 2020 = 100. AI & platforms (frontier) compound faster than any prior technology wave.

Exhibit 02Capital inflows$B / yr
202020222024202620282030

Coalition capital into technology sector has scaled toward $1.5B a year — a proxy for deployment momentum.

The shape of the book

Not all of technology sector is equal. Activity concentrates in a handful of sub-sectors where capital and capacity can be combined to real effect, and that mix rebalances as markets mature and new segments open up. Reading the shape of the book is the first step in judging both its resilience and its room to grow.

Exhibit 03 breaks the vertical into its components — Connectivity leads at 26% of exposure — while Exhibit 04 sets committed capital against the forward pipeline across the coalition's three regional secretariats, a direct read on where the next tranche of deployment is heading.

Exhibit 03Sub-sector share% of vertical
ConnectivityDigitalDataAICybersecurity

Connectivity is the largest area of activity, at 26% of vertical exposure.

Exhibit 04Committed vs. pipelineby region, $B
AméricasÁfricaAsia
CommittedPipeline

Committed capital against the forward pipeline, by region — a read on where technology sector deployment is heading.

How capital is structured & deployed

How a deal is financed matters as much as how much. The coalition rarely lends on balance sheet alone; each technology sector commitment is engineered to crowd in private and institutional capital at a multiple of the coalition's own outlay, so a fixed pool of concessional money moves far more than its face value.

Exhibit 05 shows the instrument mix shifting over time toward blended and guarantee structures that share risk and unlock third-party money. Exhibit 06 ranks single-economy exposures — led by India at $600M — with concentration kept deliberate but bounded, so no single market is allowed to dominate the book.

Exhibit 05Instrument mix% by year
2022 2024 2026
ConcessionalBlendedGuaranteeEquityGrant

The financing mix is shifting toward blended structures that crowd in private and institutional capital.

Exhibit 06Top economiesexposure, $M
India $600 Kenya $150 Brazil $260 Indonesia $140

India carries the largest single-economy exposure, at $600M.

Allocation & impact

Where the coalition places its conviction, and what that conviction produces, are two sides of the same page. Allocation is weighted toward the areas with the highest development return, and every dollar committed is underwritten against a published results framework rather than a headline.

Exhibit 07 shows committed capital across focus areas — weighted toward connectivity at 34% — and Exhibit 08 profiles measured impact across five dimensions, strongest on inclusion. These are the outcomes independent evaluation reviews, and the ones the coalition publishes when a project completes.

Exhibit 07Allocationby focus area
4 areas
  • Connectivity 34%
  • Digital public infra 28%
  • Data centres 20%
  • AI & platforms 18%

Allocation concentrates in connectivity, at 34% of the book.

Exhibit 08Impact profile0–100
InclusionProductivityInnovationResilienceSkills

On the results framework, measured impact is strongest on inclusion.

Risk, targets & delivery

Return is only half the mandate; the other half is managing risk and delivering against a clear 2030 target. These are real markets with real currency, policy, and execution risk, and the strategy is built to absorb that volatility while still deploying at scale.

Exhibit 09 plots each sub-sector by risk and return, sized by the capital at work — frontier plays sit upper-right and are deliberately balanced by steadier positions elsewhere. Exhibit 10 tracks progress toward the 2030 target, and Exhibit 11 shows delivery against four operating KPIs — the numbers the coalition reports as rigorously as it reports capital.

Exhibit 09Risk / returnbubble = capital
Risk → Connectivity DPI Data centres AI & platforms

Each bubble is a sub-sector, sized by capital at work; frontier plays sit upper-right — higher return, higher risk.

Exhibit 102030 targetprogress
58%

32 M of 55 M — progress to 2030 connections target

Exhibit 11Key performance indicatorsvs. target
  • People connected vs target58%
  • DPI systems live54%
  • Digital-skills reach49%
  • Local data capacity42%

Delivery is tracked against target across four key performance indicators.

Exhibits are illustrative for this build and shown for context only. Sources: World Bank Open Data, published sector market research, and UEDF analysis. Indexed series are rebased to 2020 = 100.

Risk factors & mitigants

Every position is underwritten against a defined set of risks, each with a structural mitigant.

  1. Risk

    Technology obsolescence

    Mitigant

    Modular, standards-based design and staged capital limit lock-in.

  2. Risk

    Cyber and data risk

    Mitigant

    Security-by-design and sovereign-cloud structures protect critical systems.

  3. Risk

    Regulatory and data-governance change

    Mitigant

    Local data residency and clear frameworks reduce policy risk.

  4. Risk

    Adoption and utilisation risk

    Mitigant

    Anchor public-sector demand underpins early utilisation.

Outlook to 2030

Through 2030, the coalition expects technology sector to remain a core allocation. Indexed to 2020 = 100. AI & platforms (frontier) compound faster than any prior technology wave. The near-term priority is converting pipeline into signed commitments while advancing toward the 2030 target — currently about 58% complete. Frontier sub-sectors carry more risk but anchor the return, and are balanced by steadier, income-generating positions elsewhere in the book.

Commitments in Technology Sector

All commitments
  1. Committed Brazil · Américas

    Digital public services platform

    Shared identity and payments rails for state and municipal services.

    $260M Equity · 2025
  2. Active Kenya · África

    Rural connectivity backbone

    Fibre and towers extending broadband beyond the major cities.

    $150M Equity · 2023
  3. Active India · Asia

    Rural digital public infrastructure

    Identity, payments, and data rails extended to rural districts.

    $600M Blended finance · 2023
  4. Active Nigeria · África

    Data-centre campus

    Carrier-neutral colocation capacity anchoring the local cloud market.

    $260M Blended finance · 2024
  5. Committed Vietnam · Asia

    National cloud & DPI

    Sovereign cloud and digital public infrastructure for government services.

    $300M Equity · 2025
  6. Active Colombia · Américas

    Cybersecurity operations centre

    A national SOC protecting critical services and financial rails.

    $120M Blended finance · 2023
  7. Pipeline Philippines · Asia

    Islands connectivity backbone

    Submarine and terrestrial links closing the inter-island digital divide.

    $240M Guarantee · 2026
  8. Active South Africa · África

    AI compute & skills hub

    Shared compute and a talent pipeline for applied AI industries.

    $280M Equity · 2024

Insights & commentary

All insights
  1. 2 years ago · Commentary Essential Multilateral Development Banks for the Global Community
  2. 3 years ago · Analysis Unlocking the $6 Trillion Potential in Artificial Intelligence
  3. 3 years ago · Commentary Strategies of the Far-Right in Establishing American Authoritarianism

Important information. This page is for information only and does not constitute an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to invest, nor investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. All figures are illustrative for this build; market data is drawn from public sources including the World Bank and published sector research, and coalition figures are indicative and unaudited. Data is presented as of July 2026. Forward-looking statements and targets are subject to change and are not guarantees of future results; past performance is not indicative of future results. Every commitment is subject to independent evaluation under Accountability.