81321405 - Development of an innovative financial instrument to improve the bankability of African PtX projects, and to crowd in institutional investors from global financial hubs

Despite growing interest in green hydrogen worldwide, securing long-term investments across its value chain remains a significant challenge. Banks and institutional investors remain cautious due to perceived risks, uncertain returns, and regulatory gaps, particularly in developing countries. The investment landscape is evolving, with traditional financiers like banks and insurance companies no longer the sole players. Specialised fund managers, private credit firms, hedge funds, and private equity giants are emerging as key funding sources. However, these investors require well-structured financial instruments with clear risk mitigation strategies to ensure confidence in their capital commitments.

One of the main barriers to attracting large-scale investment is the lack of standardised financial structures tailored to the green hydrogen ecosystem. Existing models are often regionally fragmented, focusing on single green hydrogen project elements, or have low investment volumes, limiting opportunities for global mega-financing. Regulatory and legal complexities further complicate the process, as compliance with capital market regulations and fund management laws across multiple jurisdictions is essential for investment security.

To bridge these gaps, this project seeks to design a global financial investment instrument dedicated to the entire hydrogen ecosystem. This innovative financial instrument concept will be structured to optimise risk-return profiles through mechanisms similar to asset-backed securities and financial guarantees. This will serve to attract capital from institutional investors, governmental organisations (e.g. multilateral development banks, development finance institutions and others as a guarantee or concessional loan provider), specialised fund managers, pension funds, and private credit providers.

This effort will require targeted engagement of investors and asset managers in key regions with high capital allocation. These engagements may be bilateral or take place in the form of investor/industry roundtables or similar formats. The goal is to gain feedback and input on the to-be-developed instrument, but also refine its structure where needed, ensuring alignment with market and investors" expectations. Ongoing dialogue will also help to more clearly define investors" potential roles in PtX projects during project development as well as implementation.

The proposed instrument concept should be aligned with global sustainability finance frameworks and ESG investment principles to serve as an "access to finance" accelerator for developing countries with particular focus on Africa. Lastly, the investment instrument will also require validation and feedback by/from governments around the globe, hydrogen producers, industry stakeholders, investors, financial institutions, and sustainability leaders.