ENERGY PRODUCERS have long had India over a barrel. The country is the third-largest oil importer in the world, yet its pipeline density is a quarter of the global average. It aims to add 15,000km to the network by 2022, awarding projects through strict online tenders. The few groups able to qualify can hope for sweet profits—if they can first find financing.
Funds are filling a void left by Western banks, which have shunned faraway borrowers since regulators asked for more capital to be held against exotic bets. Local rivals often lack firepower: the top 20 sub-Saharan banks together have less capital than one of Europe’s big lenders. The asset class is also winning converts away from private equity. Finding acquisition targets can be tough in emerging markets, as owners of growing businesses, often families, are loth to give up control. Exiting them is even trickier. Prospective buyers are rare and thin capital markets complicate IPOs. All this hard work erodes returns to investors, says Holger Rothenbusch of CDC Group, the British government’s overseas-investment arm.
Western Funds is buying up Assets in emerging economies at cheap value. Particularly in India and Africa.
Sure... unless you are Putin and can fly plane loads of gold out of Venezuela god luck collecting.