Founded in 2021, the UK government-owned UK Infrastructure Bank has a mandate to deploy £22 billion of infrastructure finance to tackle climate change, including net zero by 2050, and drive regional and local economic growth across the UK.
The bank has now successfully completed dozens of large-scale transactions, deploying around £4 billion and unlocking around £11 billion of private capital. To date, the bank has had an indicative minimum ticket size of £25m for private sector debt and equity transactions. The new UK government announced in July 2024 a National Wealth Fund, with £7.3bn of additional funding allocated through the UK Infrastructure Bank. There is a view that an important market gap exists for green tech and infrastructure-related companies and projects seeking a ticket size of between £10 million and £25 million.
While conventional wisdom would suggest that private capital would address this market gap, in the UK there is perceived to be a long-standing structural problem of a lack of available capital for companies developing a product to revenue/ profit. This part of the market has hence colloquially been described as the ‘Missing Middle’. The UK government-owned British Business Bank and British Patient Capital have directed venture capital investment into companies at the lower end of this range, mainly through sector agnostic funds. This suggests there may be a market opportunity here for a public bank, such as the UK Infrastructure Bank, to deploy capital to scale up companies and develop infrastructure projects in a way that creates environmental, social, as well as economic value. This would be in line with the Bank’s mandate to support efforts to address climate change and regional growth, and to provide capital to projects where private capital does not.
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Consulting firms have numerous articles and reports on private equity and venture capital. Running searches on 'Venture capital' or 'Private equity' along with the major firm names can provide valuable information. Such as: McKinsey, PWC, Deloitte, and Bain.
Numerous videos on Youtube are available on private equity and venture capital funds. These are just 2 examples of the many videos that could be useful.
Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is the world’s leading motorsport championship for electric cars. Formula E is now considering setting up a new race in Africa 2026, recognizing the continent’s significant potential as a burgeoning automotive market. With new vehicles sold projected to exceed one million in the next years, and a population exceeding 1.4 billion, Africa presents attractive growth opportunities for the passenger vehicle sector. Numerous Electric Vehicle manufacturers, including those from China, are capitalizing on these opportunities by making substantial inroads into the African market.
Formula E is assessing the feasibility of hosting a race in Africa once again, with the goal of becoming a catalyst for the continent’s energy transition. This endeavour aligns with Formula E’s core mission of promoting sustainability and innovative solutions for electric mobility. However, selecting an ideal location for the race presents some challenges, as it requires careful consideration of various factors to ensure the event's success while staying true to Formula E's core values and objective.
Selecting a location for a Formula E race in Africa requires evaluating each city’s infrastructure, economic conditions and ability to meet the event’s needs. Previous races, such as the semi-permanent track in Marrakech and the full street circuit in Cape Town illustrate the flexibility in circuit setups. The decision between using a permanent, semi-permanent, or full street circuit impacts operational, organisational, financial and environmental factors. Additionally, the location will influence the organisational and operational challenges of transporting teams, equipment, and spectators, further affecting both financial and environmental costs of the event. All of these considerations must align with Formula E’s sustainability and operational goals.
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Selected resources on implementation plans. Please note, these links are for informational purposes only. We do not condone or support any of the organizations providing this information. We cannot guarantee its accuracy.
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