Our history
Established in 2002, PIDG has addressed market failures that were prevalent in its target markets in sub-Saharan Africa and south and south-east Asia, by demonstrating to the market at large the commercial viability of private infrastructure investment in the poorest countries. These failures include:
- Limited supply of long-term, foreign currency financing for infrastructure projects;
- Lack of local currency financing options to support infrastructure, largely as a result of limited local capital market development;
- Absence of bankable projects being developed by the private sector to facilitate private sector investment; and
- Limited government capacity to support the development of publicly-originated infrastructure projects.
Notwithstanding significant changes in the market, many of the attributes that clearly differentiated PIDG when it was set up remain valid today, including our unique focus on infrastructure, our responsiveness to market changes and our agility and ability to address market gaps.
PIDG occupies a niche, where a large proportion of our activities take place at, near or even beyond the frontier of infrastructure investment where there are few or no other actors.
2019
PIDG 5-year Strategy launched
PIDG’s total funding, disbursed or available cumulatively, exceeds $3bn.
2018
New £500m DFID funding announced
New $100m DGIS funding announced
2018
Enhanced collaboration by co-locating PIDG companies in new London office
2018
PIDG Ltd. established
2018
PIDG’s east and southern Africa office, co-locating all African-based PIDG companies, opens in Nairobi
2017
New $46.5m SECO funding announced
2017
Decision taken to wind down GAP, which ceased taking on new projects
Insufficient projects in the renewable power sector that were sufficiently developed to justify continuing a specialised facility trading only in intermediate capital products
2016
PIDG’s south and south-east Asia office, co-locating all Asian-based PIDG companies, opens in Singapore
2015
ICF-DP closed to new business
2014
PIDG Owners’ cumulative investment to PIDG Trust exceeds $1bn
2014
InfraCo Asia Investments established
Market/policy challenge
Shortfall in bridging finance, which can delay and sometimes prevent financial close of IAD projects
PIDG response
Provides investment capital to IAD projects
2013
Green Africa Power (GAP) established
Market/policy challenge
Shortage of renewable energy projects in Africa due to high upfront costs and risks, lack of financing and cost-reflective tariffs
PIDG response
Provides financing and policy support to demonstrate viability of renewable energy in Africa
2012
AusAid becomes a PIDG Owner
2010
InfraCo Asia Development established
Market/policy challenge
Bankable projects not being developed in Asia due to high risk of early-stage project development
PIDG response
Develops commercially viable infrastructure projects in Asia
2009
Infrastructure Crisis Facility – Debt Pool (ICF-DP) established
Market/policy challenge
Reduced appetite of commercial banks to lend to infrastructure projects in developing countries due to the financial crisis
PIDG response
Provides long-term loans to projects to address financing gaps as a consequence of the financial crisis
2006
GuarantCo established
Market/policy challenge
Shortage of long-term, local currency-denominated funding to reduce exchange rate risk for projects
PIDG response
Provides grants to PIDG companies to build capacity and support project preparation and delivery
2004
PIDG’s Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) established
Market/policy challenge
Shortage of public and private sector resources for project preparation, evaluation and affordability
PIDG response
Provides grants to PIDG companies to build capacity and support project preparation and delivery
2004
InfraCo Africa established
Market/policy challenge
Bankable projects not being developed in sub-Saharan Africa due to high risk of early-stage project development
PIDG response
Develops commercially viable infrastructure projects in Africa
2004
International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of The World Bank Group, becomes a PIDG Owner
2003
DevCo, a collaboration between PIDG and the IFC, established
Market/policy challenge
Insufficiently well-prepared projects for private sector involvement due to lack of public authority resources/capacity
PIDG response
Provides advisory services to governments to help them deliver infrastructure projects
2002
The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) established
Market/policy challenge
Shortage of long-term loans at sufficiently low interest rates due to perceived risks in developing countries in Africa
PIDG response
Provides long-term loans to private sector infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa
2002
PIDG Trust established to help overcome the obstacles to private sector involvement in infrastructure development in developing countries
PIDG’s founding Members
DFID, DGIS, SECO and Sida, provided initial funding of $100m
