Azerbaijan seeks World Bank data centre support and ADB space financing

Azerbaijan's Ministry of Digital Development and Transport has asked the World Bank Group about possible support for data centres and the Government Cloud and raised possible space-sector financing with Asian Development Bank board members, it said in releases of 8 October and 16 September.

In between, on 5 October, Azerbaijan signed the charter of the Digital Cooperation Organization. None of the releases names a project, an amount or a timetable. Taken together they show the ministry looking to multilateral lenders and groupings as it works through its digital programme for 2026 to 2028.

Deputy Minister Rashad Hasanov met the World Bank Group's country manager for Azerbaijan to discuss cooperation in priority areas of the Action Plan for 2026 to 2028 on Accelerating Digital Development, the ministry said. The two sides exchanged views on possible World Bank support for digital transformation, AI-based infrastructure, data centres and the Government Cloud, and for training in cybersecurity and digital skills. Report.az, citing the ministry, lists the same areas and gives no figures.

The same action plan is cited by the ministry as the basis for its memorandum with SpaceXAI, signed on 1 October, which envisages piloting the company's Grok models in public services, it said in an earlier release. The ministry has also prepared a draft Cabinet resolution setting requirements for high-performance computing infrastructure, which is in coordination with other government bodies, it said in a release of 8 October.

At the 16 September meeting with members of the ADB board, Minister Rashad Nabiyev discussed the current state and prospects of cooperation, including upgrading, digitising and cutting emissions from railway, metro and wider transport infrastructure, the ministry said. The sides also discussed possible financing for air and maritime transport and for the space sector. The release does not name the board members or describe what space projects might be financed, and it gives no indication of whether any of the transport or space items are already in the bank's pipeline for Azerbaijan.

The ADB has its own connectivity agenda in the region. A study it published on 13 October, carried out by GSMA Intelligence, places Azerbaijan in the advanced group of the GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index for developing Asia, behind Türkiye and Kazakhstan, and calls on governments to assign spectrum at sustainable prices and simplify licensing, the report says.

Mr Nabiyev met Deemah AlYahya, secretary-general of the Digital Cooperation Organization, on 5 October and presented her with the organisation's charter signed by Azerbaijan as part of its membership, the ministry said. Their discussion covered digital transformation, artificial intelligence, innovation, cybersecurity, digital skills, joint initiatives, bringing Azerbaijani digital solutions to international markets, the start-up sector, transport digitalisation and regional connectivity.

The outreach comes as the ministry tracks the country's standing in international rankings. Azerbaijan rose nine places to 85th in the Global Innovation Index 2026, but Mr Hasanov called the ranking itself unsatisfactory given its 65th place on innovation inputs, a ministry release of 12 October says. The ADB study finds that Central and West Asia as a whole scores lowest on affordability and consumer readiness among the index's four enablers, according to the report.

The releases describe talks rather than commitments, and none of the three meetings is linked to a lender project document in the ministry's accounts. The ministry has not said whether it is seeking loans, grants or technical assistance for the data centre and Government Cloud work.