Why we’re engaging with institutional investors

It’s a particularly important issue because, without capital from private investors, we won’t be able to achieve the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development by 2030. To place that in context, the current financing gap is estimated to be around $2.5 trillion.

To assess how best to go about mobilising private capital, we’ve started engaging with the investor community in the City of London. This has primarily involved hosting roundtable events, most recently with the London Stock Exchange Group, which have brought together more than 25 institutional investors, asset managers and banks, as well the Financial Conduct Authority and rating agencies. As we look to do more than ever before to mobilise capital for developing countries, we wanted to connect with the investing community in the City build relationships with this group, and reinforce London’s position as a leading centre for emerging markets and frontier finance.

Attendees have been keen to find out more about the work we do, particularly the way we structure our debt and equity investments in Africa – we showcased investment in Globeleq, the continent’s largest independent power producer, as an example here. We also shared with the group our breadth of experience in African markets across investment products, as well as our growing capacity and appetite to do more with external capital (where it can be complementary).

At our most recent event, we had lots of questions from delegates – which, in themselves, provide some insight into the way the City sees investment on the continent. For example, guests were keen to get an idea of whether there is a mismatch between actual and perceived risk; if corporate governance is improving; and to what extent does the regulatory environment contribute to barriers to entry.

Bringing this group together has been incredibly useful for us as we start to develop our plans for how we mobilise more capital into the continent. Drawing on the collective expertise of the financial community is providing us with a huge amount of insight, and helping guide us on the levers we can use, as well as where our experience and our activity can add value and be catalytic.

Achieving the Global Goals requires a significant contribution from private investors. We want to do everything we can to work with our neighbours in the City of London – the world’s largest financial centre – to deliver them.