We prioritise investments in frontier markets, including in Africa, that are often outside the investment horizon and geographic focus of commercial investors. These are places where private sector investment remains scarce and it is hard to do business.
In 2024, we made £880 million of commitments to the poorer and most fragile countries across the regions where we invest (see chart). We were pleased to make a further investment in Virunga Energies, a hydropower company in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which we have backed since 2016 (see case study). Since we first invested, the company has connected over 25,000 new customers to the mini-grid, more than double its initial target when we invested. Our new investment will help the company build new high-voltage substations, to help cut energy waste and improve power quality in the region.
Developing investment opportunities
We’ve continued to develop the Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator (ARIA), which we set up to unlock investment opportunities in frontier economies in Africa and encourage investment from DFIs. It operates in five markets: Benin, the DRC, Ethiopia, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In 2024, we were delighted to make our first investment under ARIA – a new facility with Ecobank in Sierra Leone (see case study). It will provide much-needed capital for ambitious local businesses in a frontier market where economic growth is hampered by lack of investment. As part of its efforts to scale investment activity in frontier markets, over the year ARIA led delegations of investors to the five countries it operates in to explore investment opportunities. It continues to provide support to local businesses to help them become investment-ready: to date it has delivered 40 technical assistance projects to 30 companies in frontier markets.
Another way that we invest in frontier markets is by investing through specialist intermediaries. This includes investing in platforms; regional investments with world-class operating companies; bespoke trade finance and risk-sharing arrangements with regional banks; and project-finance vehicles. For example, the platform we set up to develop electricity networks, Gridworks, is developing vital electricity infrastructure in countries such as Mozambique, Burundi and Uganda (see case study).
