MOBILIST set to invest a further £100M in emerging markets
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The UK’s Minister of State for Development, Anneliese Dodds, announced up to £100 million for MOBILIST, the UK’s flagship public markets programme.
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The funding will enable MOBILIST to catalyse between £400m and £600m of new investments in emerging market businesses that focus on addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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MOBILIST provides commercial equity investment – returnable to the programme – and technical assistance to support SDG products in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) to enable them to list on major global and local stock exchanges, including London.
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With funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office (FCDO), MOBILIST has invested £87m in equity and equity commitments, directly mobilising nearly £250m in private capital since its launch in 2021.
The MOBILIST programme will invest up to £100 million from the Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office (FCDO) into emerging markets and developing economies, using public markets to scale private capital to support development and the climate transition.
The UK’s Minister of State for Development, Anneliese Dodds, made the announcement after opening the market at the London Stock Exchange (LSEG) this morning. MOBILIST is the UK’s flagship public markets programme and is delivered in partnership with the Governments of Norway and Switzerland. The programme will invest through public markets in businesses across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, supporting public markets to play a much greater role in scaling finance from institutional investors that will drive development and the climate transition. It exemplifies how UK financial services expertise is driving investment in the Global South, unlocking growth, jobs, and trade overseas and here at home.
MOBILIST is the only programme of its kind among development finance providers, created to expand the universe of listed instruments that institutional investors can access to build portfolios invested in sustainable development and the climate transition in developing countries. MOBILIST provides a unique combination of anchor capital to catalyse the initial public offering (IPO) of pioneering listed products with technical assistance throughout the listing process, as well as policy and research to drive policy reform. Since its inception, MOBILIST has invested £87 million in equity and equity commitments on a commercial basis, directly mobilising £250 million in private capital.
According to UNCTAD, EMDEs must invest an additional $4 trillion annually to meet the SDGs. Governments and development finance institutions cannot meet this need alone. Recognised for their deep pools of investible capital, public markets hold immense untapped potential to mobilise private capital toward sustainable development and climate action.
In a speech at the London Stock Exchange today, Anneliese Dodds, UK Minister of State for Development, said:
In a speech at the London Stock Exchange today, Anneliese Dodds, UK Minister of State for Development, said:
“I am pleased to announce up to £100 million of additional funding for MOBILIST – so we can build on this innovative work pioneering public market investment in emerging markets. This will allow MOBILIST to provide a platform for even more partners to draw on UK financial expertise – unlocking opportunities for investments in green growth, and helping more businesses to access new and affordable sources of capital across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.”
MOBILIST is already demonstrating that public markets can deliver and has concluded six transactions since its launch in 2021. The programme’s investments have included participating in the initial public offerings of Thai Credit Bank, a retail bank in Thailand which offers credit to micro-, small, and medium-sized businesses, and Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation (CREC), the second-largest solar energy generator in the Philippines. It also made an anchor equity investment in Bayfront Infrastructure Capital IV. This infrastructure asset-backed securitisation vehicle listed asset-backed securities to catalyse institutional investment in strategic infrastructure projects across Asia.