In early summer 2026, Kazakhstan’s technology sector advanced with a $10 billion global agreement to develop digital infrastructure. As investment increasingly shifts beyond traditional innovation hubs, emerging markets such as Kazakhstan are becoming attractive platforms for deploying new technologies. Among the companies driving this transformation is Nasdaq-listed Freedom Holding Corp. Led by founder and CEO Timur Turlov, the group is investing billions of dollars in data center infrastructure and its digital ecosystem. Freedom Holding also plans to launch its SuperApp in the U.S. market.
Partnering For Future Growth
In mid-June 2026, Kazakhstan announced a $10 billion AI infrastructure agreement with Firebird, an AI infrastructure development company, with global AI computing leader NVIDIA acting as a key technology provider. The agreement aims to build a large-scale AI data center ecosystem in Kazakhstan. One of the flagship digital infrastructure initiatives currently underway is the “Data Center Valley” in Ekibastuz.
The project is expected to generate more than $3 billion in annual export revenue and reinforce Kazakhstan’s ambitions to become a key digital hub in Eurasia, said Zhaslan Madiyev, the country’s Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development. A key factor for investors is the project’s scalability, with an initial 300 MW of capacity planned to expand in phases to up to 1 GW.
When Speed Beats Scale
Europe and the United States have led technological progress for a long time, with top research centers, big tech companies, and advances in artificial intelligence. But now, the focus for real-world use is shifting to emerging markets.
These countries often move faster because they have fewer regulatory constraints and make decisions more quickly. Their governments are more willing to adopt new technologies and play a bigger role in digital transformation, while companies can develop and scale new products without waiting for long approval processes.
Another driver of technological progress is the growing readiness of companies from emerging markets to invest at scale in digital ecosystems. Among them is Nasdaq-listed fintech group Freedom Holding Corp., founded and majority-owned by Timur Turlov. The company is participating in Kazakhstan’s national initiative to develop AI infrastructure, including a government-backed 100 MW artificial intelligence data center with planned investment of up to $2 billion. The project is being developed in partnership with NVIDIA.
The group is developing next-generation data center projects in Kazakhstan and abroad, including the Akashi project with China Mobile. In cloud services, Freedom partners with Amazon Web Services (AWS), providing enterprise clients with access to AWS solutions through its own infrastructure.
The Land of Tech Optimism
Kazakhstan has officially declared the development of AI and digitalization one of its key national priorities, setting the strategic goal of becoming a fully digital country within three years, starting in 2025. According to the UN e-Government Development Index, Kazakhstan ranks 24th out of 193 countries. This places the country in the top 12% of the world for e-government development.
The combination of state-led digital policy and growing private-sector investment is creating a distinct development model for Kazakhstan. That will determine the next phase of digital growth, reinforcing the country’s transition from a commodity-exporting, industrial nation into a technology and data hub for Central Asia.
CEO and Founder of Freedom Holding Corp., Timur Turlov, believes: “The next stage of Kazakhstan’s economic development may therefore be driven less by manufacturing and more by the creation and export of its own digital ecosystems. If the country wants to secure a place among the world’s most advanced economies, it must become not only a supplier of resources, but also a supplier of technology.”
Ecosystems for Export
In Kazakhstan, Freedom Holding has built an integrated ecosystem of financial and lifestyle services centered around its Freedom SuperApp. Within a single platform, customers can apply for loans, order groceries, interact through Lenta, the platform’s social media service, and book hotels without leaving the ecosystem.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Turlov said the company intends to introduce the SuperApp to the U.S. market. According to Turlov, innovations developed in Kazakhstan can become competitive offerings in mature markets such as the United States and Europe.
The U.S. has become a strategic priority for Freedom Holding as the company seeks to expand its business and ultimately qualify for inclusion in the S&P 500, the benchmark index of America’s largest publicly traded companies.
In 2025, Freedom Holding was added to the Russell 3000 Index, increasing its visibility among institutional investors and index-tracking funds. The company’s shareholder base now includes global asset managers such as BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors, Geode Capital Management, Morgan Stanley, First Trust Advisors and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Europe represents another major growth market. Freedom Holding has applied for a banking license in France, a move that would provide access to the European Union’s banking infrastructure and support the expansion of its financial services across the bloc. The group already operates its brokerage business in Europe through Freedom24. The platform served more than 440,000 clients with over $11 billion in client assets. Later this year, the company also plans to launch its own travel platform in Europe, offering access to more than 3.5 million accommodation properties.
Turkey is another key market in Freedom Holding’s international expansion strategy. The company is acquiring a local bank while simultaneously expanding its brokerage business. The Turkish market will become the group’s first large-scale test of exporting the digital ecosystem it developed in Kazakhstan to a market with a population roughly four times larger.
According to Turlov, Freedom Holding’s ability to expand into mature international markets has been shaped by Kazakhstan`s business environment, where regulatory openness and a willingness to adopt new technologies have enabled the company to develop and refine products before deploying them globally.
