The COVID Black Swan & Infrastructure Investment in 2021
September 18, 2020
The Covid-19 Black Swan has completely disrupted the U.S. and global infrastructure market, magnifying the cracks in the global infrastructure investment model. The magnitude of the problem is significant, but so is the opportunity.
The International Finance Corporation sees emerging market domestic private investment declining by $700 billion this year over last, and foreign direct investment declining by $250 billion. A return to pre-crisis levels of investment will only occur in 2023. Using another metric, infrastructure project finance is down 75% when compared with 2019. Now for the opportunity: We believe that, both globally and in the U.S., this is a glass-half-full moment — an opportunity to rethink the infrastructure investment model, creating a new perspective, new tools and new sources of funding through which to channel investment into projects.