Baku Forum Yields $10.8bn in Potential Investment Deals

Azerbaijan's second International Investment Forum (AIIF 2026) closed in Baku on September 26 with 23 agreements worth more than $10.8 billion in potential investment, according to organisers, spanning energy, data centre infrastructure and digital transformation projects. Shahmar Movsumov, an assistant to President Ilham Aliyev, told delegates that funds represented at the forum collectively manage more than $30 trillion in assets.

The signings build on Azerbaijan's push to position itself as a bridge between Caspian energy resources and next-generation infrastructure demand. Movsumov singled out the country's "abundant, affordable, and potentially green energy" as the pitch behind its data centre ambitions, framing cheap power as Azerbaijan's edge in competing for hyperscale investment against better-known regional hubs.

Participants named in forum coverage included Global Infrastructure Partners, Brookfield Asset Management, Vista Equity Partners and Apollo, alongside ExxonMobil, which is exploring unconventional hydrocarbon development as operator. The government emphasised that non-oil sector growth is now being pursued through incentive structures rather than direct state funding, a shift Movsumov described as central to Baku's post-oil economic planning, per Trend.az.

The forum's scale (nearly double the roughly $5.7 billion signed at select prior Azerbaijani investment events) arrives alongside a separate final investment decision on the Absheron gas field expansion and a reported 47% jump in US foreign direct investment into Azerbaijan in the first half of 2026, according to Euronews. Taken together, the numbers point to a broadening investor base beyond the traditional oil majors that have anchored Azerbaijan's capital inflows for two decades.

For businesses watching the Caucasus, the forum's outcome suggests Baku is succeeding in diversifying its investor pool even as global capital remains selective about frontier energy exposure. Whether the $10.8 billion in potential investment converts into disbursed capital and completed projects will be the real test through 2027, particularly for the data centre and digitalisation deals that depend on continued grid buildout and regulatory clarity.

Further Reading

• US Investment in Azerbaijan Jumps 47% as China and Russia Expand Too
• Apollo Eyes Bigger Role Financing SOCAR Energy Projects After TANAP Deal

Correction, 14 October 2026: the headline said the forum produced $10.8 billion in signed agreements. The figure is the organisers' estimate of potential investment under 23 agreements. A paragraph attributed to unnamed local advisers has also been removed because CBJ could not trace it to a public source.