British International Investment (BII), the UK’s impact investor and development finance institution, has announced it will be an anchor investor for the Allianz Credit Emerging Markets fund (ACE).
The blended finance fund, which was launched yesterday at BII in London, brings together a number of public and private institutions. Development finance institutions, such as BII and MDBs, will provide USD150 million of concessionary capital for the junior tranche of the fund. This will significantly reduce volatility and support the return expectations for private investors, that will provide up to a further USD850 million if the expected final close target of USD1 billion is reached.
BII will provide USD40 million of the USD150 million and will be joined by Global Affairs Canada – the development agency of Canada, the Inter-American Development Bank Invest (IDB Invest), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and Impact Fund Denmark (IFDK).
Today’s announcement marks the first close of the fund, which has so far secured USD690 million in commitments. Allianz SE and GastroSocial Pensionskasse will be the anchor investors for the senior tranche of the fund.
The firm writes that ACE is set to become one of the largest blended finance funds raised to date, signalling a renewed appetite for structures which bring together a range of investors with different return and impact expectations.
Baroness Chapman, UK Minister for International Development and Africa, says: “BII’s participation in the ACE fund demonstrates how we are modernising our approach to international development, by working as partners and investors.
“We are using UK government support to attract more private investment to create a bigger impact – ensuring every pound we invest generates much more funding for countries in the Global South to tackle the climate emergency. This approach helps Britain too, boosting growth, bringing in investment and returns for UK taxpayers and positions us as a key hub for helping emerging economies.”
Leslie Maasdorp, Chief Executive of BII, says: “At BII we recognise that we must use our scarce concessionary capital to unlock the vast pools of private finance that is required to meet the global challenge of the climate emergency and drive sustainable, impact-led growth in some of the least developed countries in the world. Today’s announcement is another milestone for BII in achieving that key objective.”
BII’s investment in the ACE fund is the third to be announced through its GBP100 mobilisation facility, launched by Sir Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister, in 2024. The first announcement was for an anchor investment in the Pentagreen Green Investment Partnership, to support green and sustainable infrastructure projects in South-East Asia. The second was a partnership with BlueOrchard on a groundbreaking blended finance fund designed to unlock life insurance capital for climate finance.
Edouard Jozan, Head of Private Markets, AllianzGI, says: “Addressing climate change cannot be focused solely on investing in developed markets – launching ACE is a bold step forward in mobilising institutional capital to address global development priorities including climate. This strategy is a great example of the strength and power of collaboration between the public and private sector and the significant potential for further scale in this asset class. Leveraging our longstanding partnerships with DFIs and MDBs, we aim to deliver investors with both attractive returns and measurable positive outcomes.”
A significant percentage of the disbursements from the ACE fund are intended to be made in Africa. The remainder will be split across emerging economies in other regions. Investments will be made across a range of sectors including renewable power, clean transportation, agriculture and financial services.
