Multilateral development banks (MDBs) have spent the last decade building the foundations of digital economies across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), by financing broadband networks, data centers, digital ID systems and regulatory frameworks. This work can help to make large-scale AI deployment in these markets a viable investment opportunity.

But laying the groundwork alone will not deliver transformation. As AI moves from a research frontier to a practical tool for governments and service providers across the Global South, MDBs are confronted with a harder challenge: What will it take to actually deploy AI at scale in LMICs, and are they set up to finance that?

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