October 20, 2026
Mohamed El Gazzar with L’Agefi: Data Centers Will Not Displace Other Infrastructure
In an interview with L’Agefi, Senior Partner Mohamed El Gazzar explains why secure power and diversification shape our approach to digital infrastructure.
The growth of data centers reflects capital following opportunity, not a retreat from other infrastructure, Mohamed El Gazzar, Senior Partner, told L’Agefi. He compared the moment to the fiber-to-the-home buildout about a decade ago, which led to some overbuilding. I Squared Capital sets no sector quotas. As a guide, digital infrastructure and long-distance fiber could account for 15 to 20 percent of the portfolio, or as little as 5 percent if opportunities do not justify more, but never half, however attractive the sector.
Strategy differs by market. In the U.S., demand centers on very large campuses for training AI models. In Europe, El Gazzar sees more opportunity in inference infrastructure close to users, as AI adoption spreads to small and medium-sized businesses. The firm’s nLighten platform runs edge data centers in seven European countries, including France, the UK and Germany. In Brazil, the firm recently made its first investment with the acquisition of Elea Data Centers. In Asia, BDX focuses on colocation in Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
Access to power is now a central constraint in Europe, and El Gazzar argued that investors must secure electricity from the outset rather than assume it. In Ireland, Energia built a private connection between gas-fired plants north of Dublin and a data center under development, supplementing renewable power from the grid. The firm is also exploring powered land: securing land and electricity before contracting with a data center operator.
He acknowledged a real risk of overfunding AI. As fiber showed, oversupply can occur even when demand grows fast. Before investing, the team assesses local acceptance, permits, power, connectivity and customer concentration. The challenge, he said, is selecting projects that can turn demand into sustainable returns.
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