Through our Catalyst Portfolio, we invest in markets where there is a high potential for impact, but where there are few precedents or benchmarks for success. This means that when we invest, we must take an even more flexible approach to risk, in pursuit of generating impact.
Our Catalyst Portfolio responds to persistent market failures, supports nascent markets and tests new solutions. These opportunities can arise where emerging technologies are not yet valued, first-mover disadvantages burden pioneer companies, or collective-action problems require co-ordinated investment across multiple actors before economies of scale can be reached. This is precisely where our higher risk appetite can support markets, before commercial capital kicks in.
Through our Kinetic Portfolio, we use concessional capital in different ways to support our partners – ranging from funding to close the ‘viability gap’ on projects, to flexible debt products. It has a higher risk tolerance than our Catalyst and Growth portfolios and can be blended with other forms of BII capital to make investments. While still a relatively new part of our catalytic capital toolkit, we’re continuing to grow this part of our portfolio.
2024 marked a decade of Catalyst investments into nascent markets and innovative solutions that promote pioneering impact. Since 2014 we have committed $1.9 billion of Catalyst capital to 102 businesses and funds. This includes supporting businesses like Jacoma Estates, an agribusiness providing direct employment and supporting over 5,000 independent farmers in an area of Northern Malawi with few employment opportunities. It has also enabled us to set up businesses like MedAccess, which is breaking down barriers to affordable healthcare. MedAccess negotiates agreements with manufacturers and procurers to get medical products to people in developing countries more quickly. To date, 559 million people in over 115 countries have accessed vaccines, diagnostics, medicines and other health technologies as a result of MedAccess agreements.
Drawing from our decade-long experience and the lessons we’ve learnt, we distilled five key insights in a report to help guide other like-minded investors as they consider incorporating a high impact portfolio into their asset allocation strategy.
In 2024 we made £311.2 million of gross new Catalyst commitments. Catalyst now makes up 13.5 per cent of our portfolio, meaning we remain on track to meet our ambition to grow our Catalyst Portfolio to 10–15 per cent of our total portfolio by value by 2026.
We intensified our efforts to support climate-focused businesses that are bringing innovative solutions to market. This included businesses like Magpet Polymers, which is helping to transform plastic waste management in India. It’s India’s first PET circular enterprise, helping to reduce reliance on new plastics. Our investment will support the development of a new recycling plant in West Bengal that turns used plastic bottles into food-grade bottles. This will cut emissions, create jobs, and keep more plastic in use for longer. In 2024 we also supported Blue Orchard’s InsuResilience Fund II which is expanding access to climate risk insurance and helping millions of vulnerable people, as well as Africa Go Green Fund which is expanding access to finance for e-mobility, energy efficiency and clean cooking.
Over the year, we continued to promote the development of innovative finance structures to create impact. One example is our partnership with GuarantCo to provide $50 million each of guaranteed finance to Etana Energy, a South African energy trading company. It will unlock an estimated $500 million of investment into renewable energy projects.
In 2024, we made eight Kinetic investments, drawing on the FCDO-funded Climate Innovation Facility to test, seed and scale technologies and business models that can create transformative climate impact. This included a follow-on investment in BasiGo, which is helping the electric bus company to scale its operations in Rwanda. The company has already started providing its electric bus services on its pay-as-you-drive model in Kigali and plans to scale services across the country.
We continue to build and develop our Kinetic Portfolio. During the year, we introduced a unique concessionary capital facility to boost the flow of private capital into developing and emerging economies. Announced by the Prime Minister, the facility focuses on unlocking hundreds of millions of pounds of private capital for climate and sustainability-focused investments in emerging economies. It will address the gap between the risk appetite and return thresholds of commercial investors who are currently inclined to place capital in more developed markets. Our ambition is to mobilise at least $5 for every $1 of concessionary capital.
Our investment in InsuResilience Fund II is expanding access to climate risk insurance and helping millions of vulnerable people.
people in sub-Saharan Africa live in both extreme poverty and serious flood risk areas
Investment name: InsuResilience Fund II
Location: Africa
Investment type: Kinetic Portfolio
Our £19 million risk-sharing deal with Ecobank is supporting job creation and private sector growth across Sierra Leone’s key industries.
of Sierra Leone’s population is employed by SMEs
Investment name: Ecobank Sierra Leone
Location: Sierra Leone
Investment type: Catalyst Portfolio
Our investment in BasiGo is helping Kenya and Rwanda switch to electric buses, cutting carbon emissions and making city travel safer.
tonnes of CO₂ emissions saved by BasiGo’s e-bus fleet
Investment name: BasiGo
Location: Kenya and Rwanda
Investment type: Kinetic Portfolio
Drawing from our decade-long experience and the lessons we’ve learnt, we distilled five key insights in a report to help guide other like-minded investors as they consider incorporating a high impact portfolio into their asset allocation strategy.”