For instance, in 2014, several oil and gas companies left Tanzania. It was a business decision to close their offices because their projects were no longer considered attractive. But I was there, and I can tell you that it did not feel like a business decision to the people left behind. What was a simple strategic decision in the boardroom of these companies had real consequences for people in Tanzania. Hopes of natural gas jobs were deferred – not because the gas wasn’t there, but because someone, somewhere, decided that Tanzania wasn’t worth the risk.

‍

That was the moment I asked the question: how are decisions to “leave a country” made? This sparked my career shift from engineering to finance and energy economics. I got my answer. But moving to Norway, sitting in strategy meetings, and watching where capital goes – and where it doesn’t – I find myself asking another question.

‍

One I would like to ask investors in the Global North:

Why can’t you see that emerging markets are scale-ups?

‍

When I ask colleagues working for clean technology investment firms why they don’t invest in emerging markets, they give two main reasons: “emerging markets are risky” or “we leave emerging markets for development finance institutions.” Honestly, it feels like déjà vu – but this time, I’m experiencing it from the opposite side.

‍

But let me tell you what I see when I look at emerging markets: I see scale-ups.

‍

I see markets with proven energy demand, growing populations, abundant mineral resources, and technologies ready to be deployed. I see a great opportunity to invest – but in geographies that investors have been taught to avoid. You have been fed a narrative coloured by poverty and aid headlines for so long that you see emerging markets through a lens of struggle rather than opportunity. But by clinging to old narratives, you risk overlooking what could be the next scale-up – and here is why.

‍

Emerging markets are scale-ups – here is why

A scale-up has a proven product-market fit. In the same way, emerging markets are experiencing rapid energy demand growth driven by population growth, urbanisation, and industrialisation. The IEA Global Energy review from 2025 highlights that 2023 and 2024, 80% of the increase in global energy demand came from emerging markets. The need for energy in these markets is more certain than almost anywhere else in the world. People in emerging markets do not have the luxury of cherry-picking energy technologies – they want energy in any shape or form.

‍

Scale-ups have a tried-and-tested approach that is ready for investment. The tools are here – solar panels, mini-grids, battery storage – they are not ideas anymore. The challenge is not about inventing something new; it is about scaling up what already works.

‍

One thing to keep in mind: scale-ups reward early movers disproportionately. In emerging markets, first movers set the terms, build relationships, and gain a competitive edge that is hard to replicate. It seems that investors from the East are already aware of this and acting fast. In the last decade, Chinese interests in the African mineral sector have risen significantly, particularly in minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and copper.

‍

The narrative around emerging markets needs to change. We need to start seeing these markets through the lens of opportunity. And with the right lens, we can identify the right structures for investment in these high-growth markets – such as project finance and blended finance. The fact that these markets carry higher risk does not make them uninvestable.

‍

High risk does not make emerging markets uninvestable

The perception that emerging markets are too risky to warrant investment is limiting. While it is true that these markets often come with higher levels of uncertainty, that does not inherently make them uninvestable. There are numerous financing instruments – such as project finance and blended finance – that can serve as risk management tools to unlock capital in high-risk markets. Investors need to shift their focus from avoiding risk to actively managing it, and position themselves to benefit from the growth and scale that emerging markets have to offer.

‍

In short, high risk does not equal uninvestable. Risk is something you manage, not avoid – and it is time we rethought how to finance energy in emerging markets.

‍

This is not theoretical. There are examples of countries that have redefined energy finance through blended and project finance to scale up energy solutions. One is ZimREF, a blended-finance fund in Zimbabwe aiming to raise over USD 100 million to finance renewable projects that improve energy access and support economic growth. In Tanzania – my home country – CRDB Bank’s Kijani Bond, a green bond now listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, raised approximately USD 65.7 million to fund renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, clean cooking energy, green buildings, sustainable transport, and water and sanitation systems.

‍

These examples show how energy infrastructure finance is being reimagined across emerging markets. The notion that these regions are “too risky” to invest in no longer holds.

‍

This is an opportunity to reframe the narrative around emerging markets and start seeing them through a lens of opportunity. It is an invitation to investors in the Global North to be courageous enough to challenge old narratives and to innovate their approach to financing energy infrastructure in emerging markets. We cannot afford to keep overlooking these markets. By doing so, we risk missing out on the kind of growth that comes from backing a promising early-stage scale-up. Let’s act now.

‍

‍Glory William Kweka

‍Strategy and Business Development Associate, Equinor