In Mexico, technology continues to arrive with force—and this time, it’s no joke. British investment firm Actis has just announced a major commitment: US$1.5 billion to build large-scale data centers across three Latin American countries. Mexico has earned a prominent place on that list. This move further strengthens the country’s position in the rapidly expanding digital infrastructure landscape and places data centers in Mexico squarely at the center of regional technological transformation.
A Massive and Ambitious Bet
Actis is not coming to Mexico as a casual observer. Through Terranova, its purpose-built platform for developing hyperscale data centers, the firm selected Mexico as the first country in Latin America to launch this regional expansion strategy. The project is designed to unfold over an intense three-year period, during which Brazil and Chile will also join the investment roadmap. However, Mexico is the initial anchor. That choice is not accidental. Actis sees the country as a strategic entry point thanks to its growing digital demand, proximity to the United States, and improving industrial ecosystem. The company’s vision is long-term and capital-intensive, aimed at building infrastructure capable of supporting the next generation of cloud computing and artificial intelligence workloads.
Energy: The Deciding Factor for Digital Growth
The message from Actis is blunt and unambiguous: without sufficient and reliable energy, the dream of artificial intelligence and cloud expansion could remain just that—a dream. Power infrastructure has become the single most important constraint for digital development in Latin America. While Mexico has generation capacity, the real challenge lies in transmission and grid connectivity. Access to the National Electric System, especially in high-demand regions, is increasingly complex. This bottleneck threatens to slow the expansion of data centers in Mexico unless it is addressed with urgency and coordination between public and private actors. Mauricio Giusti, Managing Director of Digital Infrastructure at Actis, has emphasized that energy availability is not just a technical detail—it is the foundation upon which the entire AI and cloud ecosystem depends.
Construction Already Underway
This investment is not theoretical. Terranova’s first Mexican data center is already under construction in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. The contract was signed on December 31, 2024—while most people were celebrating the New Year—and delivery is scheduled for January 2026. According to Giusti, Actis is achieving a record-breaking delivery timeline of just 12 months, compared to the industry norm of 18 to 24 months. That accelerated execution reflects both the urgency of market demand and Actis’ operational experience in delivering complex infrastructure projects globally. But the expansion does not stop there. Terranova is also negotiating the acquisition of land in Querétaro, Mexico’s largest and most established data center cluster. The plan is to develop a purpose-built campus designed from the ground up to support high-density AI workloads, ensuring scalability and long-term relevance.
Private Sector Filling Infrastructure Gaps
One of the most striking aspects of this expansion is how companies are responding to Mexico’s infrastructure constraints. Members of the Mexican Data Center Association (MEXDC) confirm that several firms are directly financing substations and grid reinforcement projects, which are later transferred to the state. In effect, private investors are paving the road themselves to ensure projects move forward. While this approach demonstrates confidence in the market, it also underscores the need for broader public investment and regulatory alignment. Without it, the pace of growth for data centers in Mexico could be uneven and more expensive than necessary.
Mexico’s Geopolitical and Strategic Advantages
Beyond local demand, Actis sees a much bigger picture. Latin America, and Mexico in particular, could emerge as a global hub for “AI factories”—massive facilities dedicated to training and running artificial intelligence models. Currently, these AI factories are concentrated in the United States. But the U.S. is facing severe constraints on energy availability, land, and permitting timelines. Mexico offers a compelling alternative: relative energy abundance, competitive costs, and low-latency connectivity to North American markets. These advantages make data centers in Mexico strategically attractive not only for domestic use, but also as extensions of U.S.-based digital ecosystems. Nearshoring is no longer limited to manufacturing; it is now reshaping digital infrastructure as well.
A Significant Gap—and an Even Bigger Opportunity
Actis has not disclosed how much of the US$1.5 billion will be allocated to each country. However, the firm did share a revealing statistic: data center capacity per capita in Latin America is 20 times lower than in the United States. That gap highlights a clear reality. The region is underbuilt for current and future digital demand. But it also signals enormous upside potential for investors willing to move early and build at scale. Mexico’s role in closing that gap could be decisive, provided that energy transmission, permitting, and long-term planning keep pace with private investment.
Looking Ahead
Actis’ investment marks more than a financial milestone—it signals confidence in Mexico’s role in the global digital economy. With hyperscale projects already underway, advanced AI-ready campuses on the horizon, and growing interest from international capital, data centers in Mexico are rapidly becoming a cornerstone of the country’s economic and technological future. The challenge now lies in execution. If energy bottlenecks are resolved and infrastructure planning aligns with market demand, Mexico has a real opportunity to position itself as a regional—and even global—leader in next-generation digital infrastructure.