World Bank’s Billion-Person Digital Push Puts Affordable Internet and AI at Center Stage

The World Bank Group aims to reach one billion people by 2030 by expanding affordable broadband, digital services, skills and practical AI while strengthening cybersecurity and data governance. The strategy calls on governments, development partners and private investors to combine policy reforms with financing and innovation to turn digital access into better services, stronger businesses, higher incomes and more jobs.

The World Bank Group is placing digital connectivity and artificial intelligence at the centre of its development agenda, arguing that internet access alone will not deliver economic transformation unless countries also tackle device costs, weak digital services, skills shortages and technology-related risks. Its Digital and AI Strategy Implementation Plan for FY2026–FY2030, developed by the World Bank Group's Digital and AI Vertical with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and regional teams, aims to reach one billion people by 2030. The target includes 600 million people using broadband internet, among them 300 million women and girls, and 400 million people using digitally enabled services.

The scale of exclusion remains substantial. Nearly 228 million people still lack broadband coverage, while more than 2.2 billion people, including 1.4 billion women, do not use the internet, mainly because devices or data remain unaffordable. The strategy therefore combines infrastructure, affordability, digital public services, skills and AI under four pillars, Access, Affordability, Ecosystem, and AI Readiness and Adaptation.

From Building Networks to Making the Internet Affordable

For policymakers, one of the report's strongest messages is that network coverage does not automatically translate into internet use. Smartphone ownership is only 33% in Sub-Saharan Africa and 40% in South Asia, compared with around 80% in East Asia.

Governments therefore need to look beyond building towers and fibre networks. Competition rules, spectrum management, infrastructure sharing, taxes, import tariffs and rights-of-way can influence what consumers eventually pay. World Bank research cited in the plan finds that doubling submarine cable capacity is associated with a 14–21% reduction in internet prices, while infrastructure sharing can reduce operators' capital and operating costs by 20–65%.

Device policy is equally important because manufacturing and components account for roughly 70% of device costs. South Africa's removal of a 9% luxury tax on entry-level devices was followed by a 16% rise in first-time smartphone buyers, illustrating how fiscal policy can influence digital inclusion.

The World Bank also proposes a Device Catalyst Program using pay-as-you-go, buy-now-pay-later and operator-backed financing. Refurbished smartphones could provide another affordable route, costing around 25% less than new devices, while the global refurbishment market is forecast to reach $100 billion by 2031.

Private Capital Could Take Digital Infrastructure Further

Governments facing tight budgets will struggle to close connectivity gaps through public spending alone. The proposed Digital Access Fund would therefore combine higher-risk development and philanthropic capital with investment from IFC, development finance institutions and private investors.

For telecommunications operators, fibre companies, satellite providers, tower businesses, data-centre developers and institutional investors, this could create opportunities in markets previously considered too risky. Guarantees and blended-finance structures could make rural connectivity, submarine cables and cross-border networks commercially more viable.

International development partners have an important role here. Rather than financing entire projects, concessional resources and guarantees can absorb specific risks and mobilize larger amounts of commercial capital. However, governments will need transparent procurement, competitive markets and clear regulations to ensure public resources address genuine market failures instead of unnecessarily subsidizing commercially viable investments.

Digital Public Infrastructure Can Turn Access Into Economic Value

Connectivity becomes economically valuable when people can use it for services, employment and business. The World Bank therefore proposes stronger Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) covering digital identification, payments, electronic signatures, registries, data sharing and verifiable credentials.

The potential efficiency gains are significant. India's Aadhaar system is cited as reducing bank onboarding costs from $23 to $0.10, while the Philippines has used national identification to authenticate 18 million social-protection beneficiaries.

Governments are encouraged to redesign services around citizens' needs, including life events such as starting a business or having a child, rather than simply converting existing paperwork into online forms.

The strategy also seeks to strengthen domestic technology industries. Governments could use competitive public procurement to create demand for local digital firms, while technology hubs, grants and investment mechanisms could help businesses expand. Armenia provides an example where a similar approach helped increase the IT sector's contribution to GDP from 1.5% to 5.2% and create 7,600 IT and IT-enabled services jobs.

Skills remain essential. A World Bank-supported digital training program in Lebanon generated an 18% increase in employment and a 94% gain in earnings, while training in Kosovo reduced participant unemployment from 37.4% to 30.6%.

Small AI Could Give Developing Countries a Faster Route Forward

The report cautions against assuming that every developing country needs expensive AI infrastructure. Less than 1% of global data-centre capacity is located in low-income countries, and fewer than 20% of low- and middle-income countries have modern data centres or cloud infrastructure.

Instead, the World Bank promotes "Small AI", affordable applications capable of operating on ordinary devices or edge infrastructure, including in places with unreliable connectivity. Preliminary examples include an AI tutoring initiative in Nigeria that produced two years of learning gains in six weeks and AI-enabled fetal monitoring in Malawi associated with an 82% decline in stillbirths and neonatal deaths. The report notes that these results remain preliminary.

The approach creates opportunities for startups, cloud providers, telecommunications companies, universities and local technology firms, but it also raises risks around cybersecurity, privacy, data governance and algorithmic accountability. The proposed Digital Trust Center of Excellence would help governments strengthen these safeguards.

With 40 countries initially prioritized, the strategy ultimately asks policymakers to treat digital transformation as an economic and development ecosystem rather than a technology project. Governments will need better regulation and institutions, development partners can use financing to reduce investment risks, and businesses can provide infrastructure, devices, software, skills and AI solutions. The real measure of success by 2030 will be whether the billion-person ambition translates into affordable access, better public services, stronger businesses, higher incomes and more and better-paid jobs.