Upcoming Procurement: Independent Formative Evaluation of the UK’s MOBILIST Programme
The FCDO invites evaluation, development finance and capital-markets experts to engage in early discussions on a forthcoming formative evaluation of MOBILIST, the UK’s flagship public-markets investment initiative, at an online market engagement event on 9 January 2026.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is preparing for an independent formative evaluation of MOBILIST, the UK’s flagship public-markets investment initiative.
The contract is planned to run from January 2026 to April 2026 with a budget of up to £116,400 (excluding tax). The evaluation will apply OECD DAC criteria and employ a theory-based, mixed-methods approach. The period within scope will be January 2023 – December 2025. Geographically, it will have a global scope, with in-depth analyses in selected countries to be determined during the inception phase.
Background
Launched in 2020, MOBILIST supports the mobilisation of institutional capital for sustainable development and climate finance in emerging and developing economies. The programme provides investment and technical assistance to scale listed products, strengthen enabling environments, and demonstrate new pathways for private capital mobilisation at scale.
The programme’s global influence has grown through partnerships with nine stock exchanges and ten equity investments to date. MOBILIST has now deployed more than £105 million and attracted over £921 million in co-investment, including mobilising £404 million in private capital (using OECD‑DAC methodology). In 2024, MOBILIST-backed companies delivered substantial impact: 4,345 MW of renewable energy capacity installed, 654,408 MWh of clean power produced, 805,895 tCO₂e avoided, 245 jobs created, and over 1.18 million people reached with essential energy and financial services.
By providing Technical Assistance (TA), MOBILIST delivers targeted support to issuers, regulators, and intermediaries. This includes pioneering work on Pakistan’s first rated, secured, listed green bond; a Mexican corporate debt handbook; and research on renewable energy investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. These efforts reduce transaction costs, improve ESG readiness, and accelerate time‑to‑market for SDG-aligned listings.
MOBILIST’s research is becoming a trusted global public good, having produced influential work on securitisation in development finance, public‑market climate finance, infrastructure as a listed asset class, and demonstration effects, with uptake by the OECD, IMF, ODI, IDB Invest, IFC, BOAD, and FCDO policy teams.
Purpose of the Evaluation
This formative evaluation will generate early, actionable insights to inform decisions about the future direction, governance, and delivery model.
The evaluation will examine:
- Strategic relevance: Whether MOBILIST continues to address key market failures and remains aligned with UK and global priorities.
- Effectiveness and catalytic potential: Early evidence of market influence, investor behaviour shifts, and demonstration effects.
- Efficiency: How effectively MOBILIST converts financial, human, and technical resources into outputs and learning.
- Learnings for programme evolution: Insights to support future design.
Evaluation Questions
The evaluation will be guided by five core questions across relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and progress toward impact:
- Strategic relevance: What evidence supports continued relevance of public markets for SDG financing in EMDEs and MOBILIST’s distinctiveness?
- Efficiency: How efficiently has MOBILIST used resources relative to results and compared with similar initiatives (where data permits)?
- Capital-market impact (early evidence): What preliminary signs exist of broader market change or increased mobilisation linked to MOBILIST?
- Policy influence (early evidence): How has MOBILIST contributed to discourse, networks and behavioural change among market actors and policymakers?
- Systemic shifts (early evidence): What changes in MDB/DFI/investor strategies toward listed EMDE products are observable, and what has enabled or constrained progress?
Suppliers may propose refinements to questions, judgment criteria and methods during inception to strengthen rigour and utility.
Early Market Engagement Event
An online early market engagement session will take place at:
📅 10:00-11:30 on 9 January 2026
🔗Registration link: https://forms.office.com/e/WzRbrWpEAV
Suppliers with expertise in development finance, capital markets, and ODA evaluations, particularly those with experience in private capital mobilisation and institutional investment, are encouraged to participate.