The Emerging Markets Securitisation Program (EMSP) was launched to tackle one of the toughest challenges in development finance: mobilising private capital at scale in emerging markets. Public resources alone cannot meet the financing gap, and global capital still flows mainly to advanced economies even though approximately 85% of the world’s people live in emerging markets.
The Challenge
The EMSP was launched to tackle one of the toughest challenges in development finance: mobilising private capital at scale in emerging markets. Public resources alone cannot meet the financing gap, and global capital still flows mainly to advanced economies even though approximately 85% of the world’s people live in emerging markets.
The Approach
At its core, EMSP is about transforming illiquid bilateral private loans into standardised securities that global institutional investors can access in a format they know. By doing so, the IFC can recycle its capital to support more projects, while giving investors a familiar, market-standard way to invest in emerging market credit in line with their risk-return preferences. The listing of the senior notes on the London Stock Exchange enhanced visibility and has the potential to broaden the investor base over time.
The first transaction, EMS 2025-1, raised $510m by pooling IFC loans to 57 companies diversified across sectors and regions. More than 30% of the portfolio was exposed to low-income countries supported by the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), or fragile and conflict-affected states (FCS). Sector exposure was broad, with over 85% of the portfolio allocated to manufacturing, agribusiness, services, and infrastructure, and the remainder in financial institutions. It brought together a breadth of emerging market credits that are rarely available to investors in a single, standardised instrument.
The securitisation was structured with senior notes of $320 million that were sold to private investors and rated Aaa by Moody’s, supported by a rigorous review and mapping of IFC’s internal credit processes to market standards. The mezzanine tranche of $130 million was insured by a consortium of insurance companies.
Emerging Markets Securitisation (EMS 2025-1): the First Step in the IFC’s EMSP
MOBILIST’s Investment
MOBILIST’s contribution was critical to getting the inaugural EMSP transaction off the ground. The $60 million equity tranche was co-invested by IFC and MOBILIST, with MOBILIST investing $25 million. MOBILIST’s anchor role in the equity tranche was a central element that helped make the transaction possible, creating the first-loss buffer that gave confidence to the rest of the capital stack. This equity enhances the risk profile of the issued notes, making them investment grade, and hence enables institutional investors to participate in the transaction.
At the heart of this effort, MOBILIST’s role working with the IFC in its inaugural transaction stands out. By stepping in as a co-equity investor, MOBILIST demonstrated how catalytic investors can unlock markets for others to follow. By standing at the bottom of the capital stack, the IFC and MOBILIST helped create space for institutional investors, particularly asset managers and insurance companies, to come in at the top and mezzanine tranches. That balance is what made the deal successful.
The Impact