British International Investment (BII) is to co-finance up to US$500 million of debt transactions which will facilitate long-term sustainable development across developing economies and low-income countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. The UK’s development finance institution and impact investor signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Amsterdam-based ILX Management (ILX), an SDG and climate-focused emerging market private debt fund. The partners intend to invest across a broad range of sectors including renewable energy, infrastructure, financial services, manufacturing and agribusiness “to increase the flow of capital into impactful businesses and projects”. ILX and BII will share information on prospective projects, emerging technologies, and financial innovation. They will also establish a roadmap to mobilise private sector capital, specifically focusing on providing institutional investors with greater access to high-impact private debt investment opportunities in scalable businesses driving productive, sustainable and inclusive growth. According to CEO Manfred Schepers, ILX has already received over US$1 billion in commitments from leading Dutch pension funds and is currently raising a successor fund for a targeted US$2 billion commitments from European pension funds. “Working with BII, together we will increase financial capacity for project finance, financial services debt and private sector debt across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.” BII CEO Nick O’Donohoe said the deal would create new job opportunities in developing economies and provide private credit to help bridge the finance gap faced by many businesses. “This asset class remains nascent, comprising of just 3% of private credit globally, and is the natural next step for allocators of global private credit.”
