Guterres Warns Developing Countries Risk Missing Out on AI and Clean Energy Investment Boom

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on private capital to flow toward renewable energy, technology and critical minerals in developing countries.

The world’s poorest economies are receiving only a fraction of the investment pouring into artificial intelligence, semiconductors, clean energy and critical minerals, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Sunday, urging governments and investors to close a divide that risks excluding much of the Global South from the next wave of growth.

Addressing the World Investment Forum, which opened in Doha, Guterres said such sectors, along with other advanced technologies, now account for almost half of all new greenfield investment worldwide.

“These and other sectors are expected to reshape economies and global production, creating significant opportunities to drive sustainable development,” he said.

“But only a fraction of this investment is reaching least-developed and lower-middle-income countries.”

With global demand for capital intensifying, Guterres described the forum as an opportunity for governments, investors, businesses and development partners to build the partnerships needed to “bridge the investment divide” in critical sectors.

He called on the private sector to increase investment in developing countries, particularly in renewable energy, technology and critical minerals, while creating “value that is widely shared by beneficiary communities.”

Guterres also urged participants to rally behind the Sevilla Commitment, the outcome of the UN Financing-for-Development Conference in Spain, which pledged to boost global investment and mobilize development financing “at a massive scale.”

Investment, he said, “is an expression of confidence that tomorrow can be better than today.”

He voiced hope that the forum would generate “the ambition, solidarity and partnerships needed to turn this moment of technological possibility into an era of prosperity for all.”

The forum, organized by UN Trade and Development in partnership with Qatar, runs from Oct. 25 to 27, with delegations expected from more than 100 countries and more than 20 ministers and heads of international agencies confirmed to attend.

It follows the UN Conference on Trade and Development’s World Investment Report 2026, which found that global foreign direct investment rose 6 percent to $1.6 trillion in 2025, ending two years of decline.

The gains, however, were uneven. Investment in developed economies rose 11 percent, compared with 2 percent in developing economies, while the top 20 host economies accounted for more than 80 percent of global inflows.

Inflows to the least-developed countries rose 21 percent to $43 billion, but still represented only a small share of the global total.

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