In the past eighteen to twenty-four months, discussions at COP, London Climate Action Week, and other global fora have increasingly highlighted the critical need to invest in developing this bankable project pipeline. DFIs and philanthropies are also aware of the difficulties faced by businesses in accessing growth equity. It is time to retire ‘billions to trillions’; instead, mobilising tens and hundreds of millions to develop a strong project pipeline capable of mobilising the billions, before we even begin to talk about the trillions.
Private capital is driven by confidence. Early-stage project development, particularly in emerging markets and developing economies, can present multiple layers of real and perceived risks. Whilst investors are increasingly interested in renewable energy, water, transport, and digital connectivity, they need a steady pipeline of bankable projects. And the early stages are where the biggest risks sit: development costs that may never be recovered, permits and power purchase agreements still to be secured, and, for growing businesses, the gap between proving a model and raising growth capital.
Equity instruments can play a powerful role at this stage of the project development lifecycle. Typically accounting for just 5 to 10 per cent of overall project costs, equity can be used to de-risk projects by providing vital working capital and crowding in additional investment. PIDG’s equity offering, InfraCo, takes ownership stakes early and stays invested, giving lenders and institutional investors the confidence to commit much larger sums. A crucial piece of the blended finance puzzle, equity supports infrastructure projects, companies, and platforms to not only reach commercial viability, but to grow and thrive.
Two years ago, the 50MWp Kong Solaire IPP was an early-stage solar project in Côte d’Ivoire. Through InfraCo, PIDG invested EUR 3.2m alongside local developer Africa Via and provided co-development support to help secure a bankable power purchase agreement and reach the development milestones needed to attract strategic partners such as AXIAN Energy, which joined the consortium last year. The project has since signed EUR 50 million project finance debt with FMO, and construction is expected to start before year-end. Sharing that journey, from the initial, risky stage to a project that lenders are willing to back, provides a demonstration effect for the wider market, proving that such sustainable infrastructure projects in emerging markets are not only viable but that they can be replicable and scalable, reducing the need for patient capital in future deals.
As a hands-on investor, PIDG combines its early-stage equity finance with development capabilities to enable infrastructure projects and growing businesses to overcome obstacles they may face during project development, structuring, construction, operations, and growth. It thus develops that all-important, de-risked pipeline of bankable projects into which investors can confidently invest. It can also leverage technical assistance capabilities to maximise impact.
PIDG, through InfraCo, can not only deploy its equity to take a greenfield project from concept to bankable reality, but it can also provide venture capital and asset management expertise to scale an existing business to attract further finance, and can provide growth equity to close a financing gap; enabling established companies to scale up innovative solutions, to pilot new products, or enter new markets. It has also provided equity to InfraCredit Nigeria, InfraZamin Pakistan, and the Dhamana Guarantee Company in East Africa, unlocking untapped pools of domestic capital – such as that held in pension and insurance funds for example – to support infrastructure development in these markets.
In Viet Nam, PIDG, through InfraCo, invested USD 4 million in 2024 to support the growth of Dat Bike, an electric motorcycle company. With its patient capital and electric mobility expertise, PIDG supported Dat Bike with board guidance, governance support, and the development of its processes, enabling the company to increase its production of electric motorcycles ten-fold in two years, maintaining women’s representation in management at over 30 per cent, and strengthening health, safety, environmental, and social (HSES) practices, specifically around workplace heat exposure. PIDG further supported the launch of Dat Bike’s Series B fundraise which attracted USD 26 million of financing, led by international institutional investors. In October 2026, PIDG exited Dat Bike, demonstrating the catalytic role of patient capital and hands-on investment expertise in giving such businesses the launchpad they need to succeed in the next chapter of their growth.
Another example saw PIDG provide USD 15 million of growth capital to scale Africa Logistics Properties’ (ALP) IFC-EDGE certified warehousing business in Kenya. Drawing on its experience of pioneering Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) for affordable student and young professionals housing, through InfraCo, PIDG anchored ALP’s launch of the first industrial Income-REIT (I-REIT) in East Africa. The REIT is expected to deliver stable, USD denominated returns for investors. Launched on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in March 2026, the ALP REIT was the first USD issuance to be listed on the NSE, raising USD 29.55 million in the REIT, with the total listing valued at USD 39.95 million (excluding USD 5 million of the PIDG commitment to be invested as the REIT scales). PIDG’s investment supported ALP to attract a range of investors, including USD 10.55 million from the local market, underscoring our mandate to catalyse growth and transform domestic capital markets.
What is important to note is that PIDG invests to achieve a commercial return whilst maximising the sustainable development impact of its investments. As we have seen with Dat Bike, with InfraCredit Nigeria, and with our Golomoti Solar project in Malawi, once a project or business is operating well, PIDG sells all or part of its shareholding held by InfraCo to a like-minded buyer (including institutional capital as was the case in Malawi) recycling our capital into new projects. That is the lasting value of patient equity.
PIDG has shown repeatedly that by combining equity with other financial instruments such as technical assistance, concessional finance, debt, credit enhancement, and guarantees, it is possible to right-size risks for each investor. Coupled with deep sector expertise, it is also possible to build the investible infrastructure project pipeline that impact investors crave.
Crucially, as thoughts turn to COP31 in Türkiye, adopting this approach leverages scarce public funds to mobilise multiples of additional capital – the original intention behind ‘billions to trillions’ – ensuring that impactful infrastructure projects can deliver vital services for communities and businesses whilst addressing the urgency of climate change and nature loss.
