AFD and IDB launch $324m subsea fibre and data centre project in Brazil’s Amazon

The French Development Agency (AFD) has teamed up with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to invest $324 million in a major subsea fibre and data centre initiative in Brazil. The project was announced during the COP30 summit in Belém, Pará.

The funding will support new subsea fibre infrastructure and regional data centre capacity in northern Brazil, focusing on areas that are historically underserved in connectivity.

The financing package uses resources from the IDB’s Amazonia Forever initiative alongside the European Union’s Global Gateway programme. Under the structure, the IDB will contribute 47% of the project cost, AFD around 33%, with state governments providing the remaining share. The investment is intended to speed up high-capacity network builds that would otherwise face delays due to the region’s challenging geography and logistical constraints.

Planned infrastructure includes between 350 and 500 kilometres of new submarine fibre in Maranhão, alongside a regional data centre intended to support government workloads, cloud services, and disaster-resilient storage.

In Pará, 425 kilometres of subsea cable will extend connectivity from the state’s interior toward the Atlantic coast. Both routes will link to the international EllaLink system via a new landing point in Salinópolis, providing the eastern Amazon with direct access to transatlantic capacity and enhanced routing options.

Around 15 million residents in the two states are expected to gain access to reliable broadband, many for the first time. The initiative is projected to provide digital access to 350,000 students, 250 quilombola communities, 110 Indigenous villages, and over 100 riverside settlements.

IDB president Ilan Goldfajn commented: “Providing high-speed connectivity in remote Amazon regions is essential for unlocking new economic opportunities, enhancing education and healthcare services, and building resilience to climate and environmental pressures,” he said.

The COP30 summit threw a spotlight on how vital digital infrastructure has become in tackling climate change. Far from being just tools for business, data centres, subsea cables, and network capacity are now recognised as integral parts of any climate strategy.

Among the announcements was the launch of the Green Digital Action Hub, a platform supported by 82 countries and over 1,800 stakeholders, coordinating digital transformation initiatives aligned with climate objectives.

In much the same way, the launch of the Climate Institute highlighted the increasing need for powerful computing resources to support climate monitoring, modelling and adaptation efforts, opening up new prospects for regional data centres in areas that have traditionally lacked such facilities.

The conference also stressed infrastructure resilience and climate-proofing. Digital networks, storage facilities, and power supply systems are vulnerable to climate shocks such as floods, heatwaves, and power disruptions. For data centre and subsea operators, this requires careful consideration of site selection, cooling systems, energy management, and continuity planning to ensure climate-resilient builds.

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