On 12 April 2026, the European Investment Bank (EIB) together with the European Commission launched an innovative financial instrument called the “Green Nexus Fund” in Brussels. With an initial size of €20 billion, the fund is dedicated to sustainable infrastructure projects in emerging markets, focusing on Africa, Asia and Latin America. A key feature is its priority support for “first time issuers” – governments, local authorities and corporations that have never issued a green bond before. The fund is expected to cover 30 40 such first time issuers. Beyond capital, the fund provides technical assistance to help issuers set up reporting and verification frameworks that comply with the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles.

First projects include: a 40 MW solar plus storage hybrid plant in Senegal, an electric bus corridor in Bogotá, Colombia, and a climate resilient water management system in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. During the launch ceremony, the EU Climate Commissioner stated: “The world needs $4 5 trillion in annual green investment, and public funds can only cover a small fraction. Our goal – through credit enhancements, first loss guarantees and blended finance – is to leverage two to three times that amount in private capital.” The fund also includes a dedicated window for smaller projects (below €5 million) that provides aggregation and securitisation services, lowering the entry barrier for small developers. Analysts say this marks a shift of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy from intergovernmental agreements towards market backed, bankable project pipelines.